


beneficial

by mollyelle



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, F/M, Friends With Benefits, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:35:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25170235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollyelle/pseuds/mollyelle
Summary: Blaine and Kurt are over and NYADA is a fresh start.  He doesn't want Kurt back, but sure, it hurts a little to see him move on first.  Enter Sebastian and his offer to be friends with benefits to make Kurt jealous.  What could possibly go wrong? {A Seblaine Week 2020 NYADA AU!}
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Original Male Character(s), Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe, Sam Evans/Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce, Sebastian Smythe/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 90
Collections: Seblaine Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Posting for Seblaine Week 2020 prompts College and Friends With Benefits, so I will be posting this fic in 3 parts (2nd part will be posted on Free Day). I’m really excited to share, it’s my longest fic ever and it’s a NYADA AU!
> 
> So what makes it AU? Well, Blaine went to McKinley all 4 years of high school and dated Kurt until Senior year. He met Sebastian Junior year and the two became casual friends. Also, I know a school like NYADA probably wouldn’t require the type of classes specifically Blaine may take in this story, but just go with it for me.
> 
> And of course, I enjoyed it so much in “if you say that you are mine” (located here ICYMI: https://mollywritesseblaine.tumblr.com/post/179893235173/if-you-say-that-you-are-mine) , that I present another love letter to Blaine and Santana as unlikely best friends and New York City as a whole. Hope you enjoy, please give kudos and comment!
> 
> "A star is a star, it doesn't matter where in the sky I shine." ~Santana Lopez  
> for Naya

Blaine Anderson’s favorite way to describe his life in New York is that it is excitingly blessed with the familiar.

He doesn’t know how they got so lucky, but all of the NYADA kids that came from Lima somehow got placed in the same student apartments. Of course, Kurt and Rachel are living together, but thankfully for Blaine, they’re one floor up from everyone else’s apartment.

The former Dalton Academy Warblers, Sebastian, Nick and Jeff have set up their apartment as party central and affectionately named it The Nest. Quinn and Brittany are on one side of them, and Sam and Mercedes, the only happy couple to make it out of Lima, are on the other. And 3 doors down are Blaine and his roommate.

He would never tell her this, but he was terrified about living with her at first. She hadn’t exactly been the nicest girl in school, and that’s definitely putting it mildly.

But now, Blaine wouldn’t trade living with Santana for the world. She forces him to come out of his shell, they’re able to bounce performance ideas off of each other with honest feedback, and there’s never any competition for romantic partners.

He walks in from work, and he hears her before he sees her, chatting on the phone and making dinner. Brittany is sitting at their small breakfast bar, typing away on her laptop and she waves without looking up.

“Hi! How was work? No, not you, Blaine just walked in. No, we are fine living together, that's not an issue.” She’s talking to both Blaine and the person on the phone. He looks over to Brittany who mouths “Abuela” before going back to what she’s working on. He nods and quickly responds “ah”, grabbing a drink from the refrigerator. Santana offers what Blaine has come to recognize as her signature goodbye for rushing family members off the phone and sighs.

“Brittany and I are going to study tonight, want to join?”

Blaine notices Brittany’s slight nervous glance up, which she quickly tries to cover up and he smiles.

“Nah, I think I’m going to go down to the Nest and work on a song with Nick and Jeff for our Composition class.”

“What about Sebastian?” Santana says, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

“Sebastian’s not even in that class.” Blaine is playing dumb; he’s well aware that Santana thinks he and Sebastian would make a good couple, and he’s told her time and again the myriad number of reasons why they wouldn’t work.

But hey, he’s not so bad to look at, and his defensive edges have softened somewhat since high school.

Santana just rolls her eyes as Blaine heads off to his room to change and grab his laptop and books. The class they’re all in together is more performance based, but he enjoys hanging out with the boys, so he likes to be prepared for anything. Even if that just means catching up on other classes.

“Don’t stay out too late!” Santana calls out as he heads out the door, “And your hair looks cute!”

“Love you too!” he calls back with a laugh, and yeah, he’s definitely not mad about his living situation.

...

When Saturday night comes around, everyone starts pouring into The Nest: Rachel and Kurt are begging Nick, the de facto DJ, to play at least one showtune (he refuses), Mercedes is belting out a song on the cheap karaoke machine and Sam and Blaine are playing beer pong.

Well, Sam is playing; Blaine is getting his ass kicked.

He’s downing what feels like his thousandth beer of the night when he feels someone give him a small hip bump. He shows Sam the empty cup and looks up to see Sebastian standing at his side.

“Not to insult you, but you know you absolutely suck at this, right?”

Blaine laughs a little too loudly, “I’m sorry, but which part of that wasn’t supposed to be insulting?”

But Sebastian always has a quick response. “That you’re smart enough to know it. Plus, if memory serves, you weren’t always this bad.”

A memory flashes through Blaine’s mind, one he had almost forgotten.

_This isn’t something he and Kurt would ever normally do, but he and Kurt aren’t exactly normal these days. Santana had come into Glee Club earlier in the week, saying that the Warblers were throwing a party at one of their member’s houses this weekend and they should all go in the spirit of healthy competition._

_And if she could get drunk and make out with one of the girls from the other schools, so she wouldn’t have to have that awkward “what are we” conversation the next day, well, that was a pretty nice bonus too._

_“This will be fun, right?” Kurt is speaking just to interrupt the silence as Blaine drives, and Blaine smiles politely._

_“Yeah, it’ll be good to get to know some of the Warblers a little better.”_

_“Well, you’re already friends with a couple of them, aren’t you?” The question isn’t meant to sound accusatory, but Blaine can’t help but wonder if Kurt is trying to figure out if something is going on behind his back._

_It’s not. Blaine is too heartbroken about what’s happened with his first love to even think about being with anyone else._

_“Not really,” Blaine says quietly, and that effectively ends the conversation. They’ve been fighting a lot lately, and neither of them want to say anything that will push the other too far. When they arrive at Nick’s house, the party is already in full swing and Blaine hears Rachel shout “Kurt!” almost as soon as they walk in the door. Kurt gives him a half smile and goes to join her and Mercedes. Blaine hates that his boyfriend leaving his side relieves some of the tension, but it does, and he instantly spots Sam over by the kitchen counter, mixing drinks and laughing with some of the Warblers._

_“Hey, what’s up bro? Want a drink?”_

_“Please!” Blaine knows Kurt hates it when he drinks too much, but Kurt is already out of sight and he needs something to calm him down. Sam pours him a fruity concoction that barely tastes like alcohol and has the capacity to be very dangerous. He takes a sip and gives Sam a thumbs up signaling his approval when a figure jogs up beside him._

_“All right listen up, I’m putting together a team to destroy Trent and Jeff, who’s in?”_

_Blaine turns to his left and there is Sebastian Smythe, another Warbler he has met in person only briefly, but they did exchange numbers at that meeting. So, if they’ve texted a little since then, it’s harmless, right? He’s felt lonely lately, he’s just looking for a friend._

_It’s just a coincidence that Sebastian also happens to be incredibly good looking._

_“Anderson, looks like you’ve got a fresh drink. Care to join me?”_

_“What am I agreeing to?”_

_“Smart question to ask,” Nick says with a laugh and Sebastian gives him the finger before explaining, “Beer pong. But we play with water, so you can bring your shockingly red drink too.”_

_“It’s party punch!” Sam yells as Sebastian leads Blaine away from the kitchen island to a table set up outside in the backyard. He doesn’t notice Sebastian’s hand on his lower back until it’s gone, but when it’s no longer there, the feeling lingers._

_Sebastian reaches for his drink on the table and Blaine notices the cups have already been arranged. He’s seen enough movies, he knows what beer pong looks like, but he’s never actually played. Hell, he’s never really even been to a party except that one night at Rachel’s, but they don’t talk about that._

_“Okay, you’re gonna think I’m totally lame, but I have absolutely no clue how to play,” Blaine admits, but Sebastian just smiles, and god, this punch must be strong because his stomach is doing somersaults._

_“It’s okay, Trent **knows** how to play and he sucks ass at it, so you’ll be fine.”_

_Trent scoffs from the other side of the table and Blaine laughs, relieved, as Sebastian explains the rules to him._

_And then the game begins, and he is shockingly good. Almost every ball he throws goes in and Sebastian cheers every time he makes a shot, which feels warm in his chest for some inexplicable reason. And then he realizes, he’s happy to be appreciated._

_“You undersold yourself, Anderson. Sure you’re not hustling us?”_

_“Well, it would be pretty pointless to hustle my own teammate, wouldn’t it?” Blaine takes the last sip of his drink, batting his eyelashes just a little, and is he...flirting?_

_Sadly, (or thankfully?), he doesn’t get to find out the answer as he’s brought out of his trance by someone shouting “Blaine!” He turns his head and there is Kurt, walking toward him, clearly irritated. Fuck, had he seen him flirting with Sebastian?_

_He starts, “Kurt, it was nothing, we were just…” but Kurt is already on his own train of thought._

_“Can we go? Rachel has had way too much of whatever that party punch is, and she’s making a big scene with Santana, and I’m just over it.”_

_“I…” He looks back to Sebastian who is standing at the table with his hands up like “don’t get me involved” and sighs, turning back to his boyfriend._

_Guess the clock has struck midnight._

_“Okay, sure.” Kurt looks relieved and is already heading for the door. Blaine smiles politely, “It was a pleasure being your partner, Sebastian.”_

_“Hey, maybe we can do it again sometime,” the Warbler says with a smirk, and all Blaine wants to do is stay._

_But all he **can** do right now is go._

“So then I guess I should be smart enough to ask you to be my partner...again?” Blaine smiles and throws the ball back.

And for what feels like the first time all night, it goes in.

“Definitely,” Sebastian grins, “Evans! Grab a partner, Anderson’s called in the cavalry.”

“Brittany!” Sam calls and the girl peeks her head out from the kitchen where she and Santana have been adding more vodka to the jungle juice. He motions her over and she nods, rushing over, drink in hand. She points across the table, “Wait, is this our competition?”

Blaine feigns like he’s just been shot in the chest, and Sebastian stands up straighter, motioning between himself and Blaine. “Listen, this team may have been lacking in talent before, but I’m on board now. Let’s rack 'em up.”

“You can’t talk this way about your own teammate!” Blaine playfully slaps Sebastian on the arm and Sebastian leans over to murmur conspiratorially, “All part of the strategy” and his breath feels warm in their close proximity. Blaine thinks he’s clearly had too much to drink, but hey, he only lives down the hall.

Sam and Sebastian set up the cups, and the game begins. Sebastian must be a good luck charm because every ball Blaine sends flying is managing to hit its intended target. At one point, they’re doing so well that Blaine whispers something in Sebastian’s ear which causes both Brittany and Sam to quirk an eyebrow. The next time Blaine makes a shot, he and Sebastian perform an elaborate handshake and Sam’s mouth falls open in shock. He certainly did not expect his and Blaine’s secret handshake from when they ran for Student Council to be used against him.

“Dude, not cool!” 

“All part of the strategy,” Blaine says with a shrug and a smirk, and Sam turns to Brittany and says, “Okay, handshake meeting after this game.”

They all laugh and finish the game, which Blaine and Sebastian win easily, and that’s when Blaine realizes that most everybody has already taken off. Nick and Jeff are on the couch playing video games and Santana is sitting on a barstool next to their game, chatting with Brittany, but everyone else seems to have left while they were wrapped up in their tournament. Even Sam looks around and finds himself dateless.

“Damn, lost the game and lost my girl too,” he says with (mostly) fake resignation and Blaine laughs from the other side of the table. Santana hums and clarifies, “Nah, she just said she’d rather go to sleep than continue to watch you get humiliated.”

“See, aren’t you glad you don’t have someone to talk about you like that?” Sebastian murmurs low to Blaine, but clearly not low enough as he’s soon on the receiving end of a glare from Sam. Sebastian shrugs unapologetically in response.

Santana hops off her stool and holds out her hand to Blaine, “Come on, Anderson, I need my beauty rest.”

“Psst lies,” he responds dramatically, and they both giggle, and okay, he’s _definitely_ had too many. He turns back to Sebastian and smiles, “Thanks for being a great partner.”

Sebastian smirks back and Blaine definitely doesn’t feel his insides melting at his response. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

He and Santana leave and walk the short distance to their apartment, arms around each other’s waists. She reaches over and boops his nose. “Well, you are _very_ good at that game, aren’t you?”

“Shut up, you’re drunk,” he responds, but can’t manage to wipe the smile off of his face.

…

The coffee shop is bustling with college students, skillfully located between NYADA and NYU. But Blaine enjoys the noise; sometimes his apartment is too quiet and the tv is too tempting.

He’s actually getting work done on his essay when he happens to glance up and see Kurt walking through the door, and right behind him is another boy Blaine has never seen before. But Kurt is talking to him, and they’re laughing and smiling.

And kissing.

The guy follows behind Kurt, holding his hand as Kurt goes up to the counter, ordering for both of them. They’re too far away for Blaine to hear what they’re talking about, but he can see that they’re laughing about something.

He’s not still interested in a relationship with Kurt, but they dated all throughout high school. They decided to break up before going to New York because they wanted a fresh start.

Little did they know they were going to end up living in the same building.

But thankfully, things have been civil, and their friend group has been able to stay intact. If Blaine is honest with himself, they didn’t really want to be together in their final year of high school, but they had figured it was just easier than the drama of a senior year breakup. So of course they won Prom King together, and Kurt danced with Rachel while Blaine spiked the punch with Sam. It had been a fun night because they had finally allowed each other to let go. And after that, they decided to just keep letting go until there was nothing left.

And yet, is it weird to see Kurt with someone else? Maybe a little. The boy is the anti-Blaine: tall and blonde and athletic, and is that what Kurt was wanting the whole time they were together?

Does it really matter?

“Blaine?”

_Fuck._

He definitely didn’t realize he was staring, and now it’s too late. Kurt and the mystery man are standing across from him, and he pulls out his headphones, smiling casually.

“Hi Kurt, how are you?”

“I’m good,” he says, a little stiff, like he wasn’t expecting to have this conversation today, but he’s not really sure how to get out of it either. He clears his throat and turns to the boy standing next to him, “This is Reynolds; Reynolds, this is Blaine, he’s...one of the guys that came from Ohio with me.”

Blaine nods, understanding the role he’s supposed to play. He knows Kurt will leave here and spill the beans, but doesn’t really want to have the ex conversation in the middle of a crowded coffee shop. He smiles and extends his hand from where he’s sitting, “Nice to meet you, cool name, man.”

Reynolds says “Aw, thanks” like he’s heard it 100 times before, and he looks at Kurt like he wants to bring up an inside joke, but he doesn’t want to make Blaine feel out of place. Kurt smiles politely again, and continues, “Well, we don’t want to keep you, I’m sure you’ve got a lot to get done.”

“Ha, yeah, this writing class is really kicking my ass,” Blaine assists, knowing they both need to get out of this conversation as soon as possible. He waves awkwardly, “Nice to meet you again!”

Reynolds and Kurt wave just as awkwardly and head out with their coffees. The second they’re out the door, Kurt is talking to Reynolds, arms linked, and they’re laughing hard about something Blaine is glad he can’t hear. He’s sure they’re laughing about how awkward it was running into Kurt’s ex, and how awkward it will continue to be. Blaine sighs and slams his head against his notebook on the table.

He’s not upset about being someone’s ex, but man, does it suck to be one sometimes. 

Especially when the ex becomes spoken for, and you are sadly single.  
...

It’s finally Friday and Blaine is relieved. He doesn’t have to work and his classes are done for the week. He wants to just sit on the couch, drink his tea, watch _Rent_ and be left _alone_.

There’s a party happening down at the Nest, but he needs a night off to recharge. So he sent Santana off, made sure she remembered her keys so that he wouldn’t have to wait up all night for her to come home, and got in his coziest PJs.

He wishes whoever is knocking on his door had gotten the memo.

He knows it’s probably just some stupid students playing a prank, but he’s still annoyed. He gets up, sighing and looking through the peephole. Now, he’s not annoyed, just confused, as he opens the door.

“What are you doing here?”

He can tell Sebastian’s already pretty drunk; he’s leaning casually against the doorframe and his smile is goofy, not sharp, like usual.

“The vodka is running dangerously low, so Santana sent me to retrieve your stash.”

“Drew the short straw?” Blaine asks self-depricatingly, but allows the other boy to come in anyway. Sebastian stumbles slightly at the sudden lack of brightness. Blaine has it pitch black in their apartment, save for the glow of the TV, which is strikingly different from the ever-present fluorescent lightbulbs of the hallway.

“Do we need to talk?” Sebastian looks around the room before his eyes land back on Blaine. He gasps theatrically, “Or do you have a special friend over?”

“I don’t.” Blaine abruptly ends that train of thought with an eye roll and heads toward the area of their kitchen counter where they keep all of their booze when Sebastian reaches out and grabs his wrist gently.

“Seriously, are you okay? There’s a party with a ton of your friends going on down the hall and you’d rather be in here watching…” He rushes into the other room and comes back with a disapproving look, “ _Rent_? For real? Are you going through a depression?”

“Maybe I enjoy being a stereotype,” Blaine responds petulantly, sticking his tongue out slightly for good measure. Sebastian laughs, grabbing a beer from the fridge and walking back into the living room, settling down into the couch. Blaine leans against the wall, staring at him, confused.

“Aren’t you supposed to be returning with vodka?”

“Fuck it,” Sebastian says with a shrug, “if they want it bad enough, they know where it is.”

Blaine is wary, he doesn’t want to be pitied. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Blaine, do I ever do anything I don’t want to do?”

Blaine doesn’t have much of an argument left, so he heads over to the couch, grabbing the popcorn bowl off of the coffee table and restarting the movie. He hasn’t gotten too far into it, and of course Sebastian’s seen it, humming along as he reaches into the popcorn bowl in the middle of the couch.

“You and me, Maureen and Joanne?” Sebastian wonders aloud and Blaine snorts.

“More like Roger and Mimi.”

“As long as I’m Mimi,” Sebastian offers as a rebuttal and Blaine drags out his response of “Obviously”.

They watch the movie in comfortable silence, and during a particularly quiet moment, Sebastian turns to him.

“So you really wanted to stay in watching a movie about surviving in New York with your friends rather than actually living it?”

“Somehow, I think the situations in the musical are a bit more dire.”

“Stop deflecting, and tell me what’s going on,” Sebastian demands.

Blaine takes a deep breath, “I ran into Kurt and his new boyfriend the other day and it kind of sucked. We all already go to the same school, we somehow in some cruel twist of fate got put in the same student apartments, and I really just wanted a night off.”

“Do you want him back?”

“No, I’m just...not really ready to see him with someone else. Especially because I’m not exactly drowning in offers over here myself. And I know it’s not a competition, but we were together for a long time, so for him to move on first...ugh, I know it’s selfish, it shouldn’t even matter.”

At this, Sebastian sits up like a lightbulb has popped on above his head.

“You know, I could help you with that.”

Blaine isn’t quite sure what he’s offering, but he laughs skeptically. “You wanna be my boyfriend, Sebastian?”

“Don’t love the label, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued at the prospect of making him jealous. And,” Sebastian pauses, moving closer to Blaine on the couch, leaning in to add quietly, like he’s sharing a secret, “I have _always_ wanted to kiss you.”

Blaine isn’t sure what to say, but he certainly doesn’t hate what he’s hearing. He can’t help but look down at Sebastian’s lips at his confession and he is almost certain that the other boy will capitalize on this fact. Sebastian leans forward, closing the gap and kissing Blaine softly, and it is a very good kiss. Sebastian has heard the stories: about how Kurt and Blaine started out as high school sweethearts, but lost most of their chemistry near the end of their relationship. He always saw them together at competitions and thought Blaine could do better (and wasn’t really afraid to say so). From the kiss, he certainly understands why Kurt wouldn’t want to let Blaine go; the way he hums when Sebastian sucks lightly on his bottom lip sends shivers down his spine.

When they pull apart slowly, Blaine’s eyes are still closed as he asks, “So, if you don’t want to be my boyfriend, what _do_ you want?”

“I want you to live your best New York life without having to worry about impressing or comparing yourself to Kurt all the time. So, I say you put yourself on a level playing field: have a boy on your arm that you can show off whenever you want. And if you find there’s someone else you want to kiss at any point, feel free, and if you _really_ want to kiss them, we can ‘break up’ no questions asked. It’s not like anyone would be particularly shocked at me being the ‘love em and leave em’ type.”

Blaine looks as if he’s seriously contemplating the idea. “You would do that for me?”

“Hey, I didn’t say I would stop kissing other boys either. New York is a big place, and I have seen very little of it.”

Blaine is completely taken aback by the situation, but not necessarily in a bad way. “Can I think about it?”

“Sure,” Sebastian responds with his signature devil-may-care attitude, and they go back to watching the movie. But if they’re sitting a little closer together, well, Blaine certainly isn’t going to complain about that.  
…

The next morning, Blaine is making pancakes and eggs and toast, his mind whirring. He knows Santana is usually starving when she’s hungover, so he’s doing this out of the kindness of his own heart.

If it’s helping to distract him from (or focus on?) Sebastian’s proposition too, all the better.

He hears Santana’s bedroom door open just as the toast is popping up. The butter is melting perfectly as she takes a seat at the kitchen island, her hair up in a messy bun, wearing one of Blaine’s old hoodies.

“Sunny side up or scrambled?”

“You know, just because you didn’t go to the party, you don’t have to look so smug.”

“Little of both?” he says with a smirk, sliding some eggs on to a plate next to her half eaten piece of toast.

“What are you so chipper about? Did you find a new commentary track or something last night? Sing-along version? Director’s cut?”

Blaine chuckles nervously, “Um, not exactly. Last night, I think I agreed to be friends with benefits...with Sebastian.”

Santana whistles, putting syrup on her pancakes as Blaine sits down next to her and starts eating, “And here I thought _I_ was having a wild time.”

“Did you make out with Brittany again?”

Santana nods, “And Quinn, but this is not the point. You say you _think_ you agreed, what does that mean?”

“Well, he offered, and I asked if I could think about it.”

“And have you?” She takes a sip of her juice that Blaine has graciously laid out for her. “Thought about it?”

He takes an extra long time finishing chewing the bite in his mouth and she rolls her eyes in annoyance. But when he finishes, he just laughs.

“Yeah, I think I have.”  
…

Sebastian isn’t really hungover since he stopped drinking other than the one beer he had at Blaine’s hours before the party ended. But Nick and Jeff had not been so responsible.

“Sebastian! Get the door!”

The two of them are wallowing on the couch, while Sebastian has just gotten dressed for a run. He already has his AirPods in when he opens the door and sees Blaine standing there, smiling and dressed for the day.

“Hi,” he says briefly, sounding like an introduction to a speech. But then he takes a breath and leans in, quickly, before he loses his nerve.

The kiss is short, sweet and definitely noticed by Sebastian’s roommates, judging by how quickly they sit up on the couch. After they pull apart, Blaine gives him another quick peck and mumbles quietly, “Sell it, yeah?”

When Blaine pulls back a little further, his voice gets slightly louder. “Have a good run, babe!” And then he is gone, back down the hall to his apartment.

When Sebastian turns around, Nick and Jeff’s jaws are practically on the floor. He ignores them, going to the refrigerator to get water and heading back toward the door. As he’s heading out he calls back, “Since you two are up, clean the rest of this shit up!”

He gets into the hallway and looks to the right, seeing the door to Blaine’s apartment. He shakes his head and laughs, heading down the stairs of the building.

This is going to be fun.  
…

When Santana opens the door to her apartment to leave for class, she does not expect to see Sebastian standing there with a bag from Shake Shack and 2 shakes.

She crosses her arms, looking surprised. “Fuck buddies bring lunch now? Things sure have changed since I had one.”

His eyes get slightly wider, “First of all, need to hear that story. Secondly, we haven’t really talked through our arrangement yet, so I was bringing a peace offering. And if we make out a little afterwards, well…”

“You do that, you kids have all afternoon. Just be safe,” she says with a wink, walking past him to the building elevator.

He walks in and sees Blaine sitting on the couch, attempting to read a book for his English class. He sits up a little straighter when he sees Sebastian coming over.

“Hey what’s up?” Blaine asks politely, and then upon seeing the bags in Sebastian’s hands: “Did you bring me food?”

“Quickest way to a man's heart,” Sebastian says with a shrug, handing one of the shakes over. Blaine accepts happily and begins rummaging through the bags, pulling out a burger and tray of fries for each of them.

“So to what do I owe this amazing lunch?”

“Well I know we were equal parts drunk and sad the other night,” Sebastian starts and Blaine laughs; he can’t exactly argue with the truth, “so I thought we could just lay down some ground rules.”

“Wow, did not expect this from you, Sebastian.” Blaine is amazed but also impressed. “Your reputation precedes you, you know.”

“So does yours,” Sebastian admits, and it’s not meant to be a character flaw, but everyone knows Blaine has been in one relationship his whole life. So, making the jump to friends with benefits doesn’t exactly seem like the most natural move. “I’m not interested in breaking your heart, Blaine.”

Blaine sits up a little straighter at the sweet sentiment, turning toward Sebastian on the couch, “Well, as I assume she blabbed to you at the door, I told Santana about us, like told her the truth. But honestly, other than that, I don’t care what everyone else thinks. Let ‘em talk.”

“Even Kurt?” Sebastian smirks.

“ _Especially_ Kurt. It’s gotta look real, right? So we should work on convincing _everyone_.”

Sebastian pushes the coffee table further away from them, and Blaine feels himself leaning back against the couch pillows as Sebastian crawls over him.

“Guess we’d better start practicing if we want everyone to talk,” he murmurs and Blaine hasn’t wanted to kiss a boy this badly in a long time.

And the best part is, he doesn’t have to wait any longer.

Blaine reaches up, wrapping his arms around Sebastian’s neck and pulling him down on top of him. Sebastian applies more pressure than Kurt ever did with his first kiss and with every one after; he knows what he wants and he’s going to take it. And Blaine is more than happy to let him have it.

He doesn’t know if he’s ever kissed someone just to kiss them, no agenda, no discussion waiting on the other side of it, and he thinks he could definitely get used to this.

They talked long enough, right? Sebastian doesn’t want to break his heart, so Blaine won’t let him.

Problem solved.  
...

It’s Tuesday evening and Econ is kicking his ass.

Santana has a study group over at their apartment, so Blaine is sitting in the University library trying to cram for his latest exam. He’s stopped and started 6 different “Study Chill” playlists on Spotify and 2 empty coffees are sitting next to his laptop when he sees a third come down right next to them. He looks up and Sebastian is smiling warmly.

“Thought you could use this, but it looks like I might be too late.”

Blaine laughs, exasperated, “I think I’m going to need a coffee IV at this point.”

“You worry too much, you’re at a school for performers,” Sebastian rests his forearms atop the chair across the table from Blaine, “Do you think any casting director is really going to care what you got in Econ 101?”

“It’s called personal pride, Sebastian,” Blaine responds smugly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“Well I’ve got a better suggestion for you if it won’t be too damaging to your pride,” Sebastian offers, leaning over the table with a smirk and Blaine is hanging on every word he says.

“Wanna go make out in the stacks?”

Blaine knows he shouldn’t; he’s already woefully behind in his reviewing.

And yet.

It’s like he snaps his fingers and Sebastian has him pressed against a bookcase in the darkest corner of the highest floor of the library. He’s pretty sure that no one will be coming to the Ancient Runes section anytime soon and there are barely any windows up here, so it’s not exactly a prime study location either.

Still, the chance of getting caught, however small, is unbelievably hot and Blaine is panting into Sebastian’s mouth, grasping at his back to pull him closer as Sebastian practically gropes his ass, and he will _not_ come in his pants in the middle of the library.

Well, he’s going to try not to.

The press of Sebastian’s lips against his feels so good that Blaine doesn’t ever want to tell him to stop, but he knows he has to go back to studying soon. Even though his body wants to hold on for as long as he can.

Ever since they started this, they’ve met up a couple of times, mostly when either of their roommates aren’t at home. Blaine does want Sebastian at his side for when they’re at group functions with Kurt, but he supposes it can’t hurt to practice in private, right? Just to make sure it looks natural when they’re in public.

He’s distracted, lost in thought and the quiet breaths escaping from Sebastian’s lips whenever they part until he hears them.

They are not alone.

“This is our History section. Students also come up here to study because it is a very quiet and focused area to get work done.”

Blaine freezes, balling up the fabric of the back of Sebastian’s shirt into his fist.

“Did they come up here during _your_ prospective student tour?” he hisses, still clinging close to Sebastian as if that will keep them from being seen.

“So cute that you think I did a prospective student tour,” Sebastian purrs, kissing Blaine’s shoulder then his neck, which causes Blaine to finally swat him away.

“Stop that! How are we going to get out of here?”

“I got this.” Sebastian untangles their bodies and grabs a random book off the shelf. As they walk into the open space of the library, he shouts, “Here it is!” He’s still smiling as they walk right into a small group of new students and parents, led by a NYADA upperclassman who looks very bewildered to see anyone up there.

And there’s one other person with the group that makes Blaine’s heart drop to his stomach.

His Econ TA.

“Mr. Anderson, how is studying going?” he asks skeptically, not expecting to see an Econ student in the History section of the library the night before an exam.

“Great, I was just helping my friend find…” he turns to Sebastian, motioning toward the book in his hand and Sebastian raises it helpfully.

At least it would be helpful if the cover wasn’t so sheathed in dust that it is cracking off and barely hanging on at the seams.

“Primary sources, am I right?” He is grinning like an absolute idiot and _fuck_ , Blaine wants to kiss him again so badly.

He doesn’t know how they exit the floor without bursting into laughter. They manage to make it into the elevator and when the doors close, they finally crack up, doubling over thinking about the book practically splitting in half. They are finally able to catch their breath and calm down as the elevator moves toward Blaine’s floor. When they arrive, the doors open and he pushes up on the balls of his feet, kissing Sebastian sweetly and waving as he heads back to his things.

“Thanks for the distraction.”  
...

When Blaine met Kurt and Reynolds at the coffee shop, he was dreading this moment: the first party where they were all in attendance.

That was before the arrangement.

Now, he feels relaxed, accepting a drink from Santana as she pours one for herself. The two of them are casually chatting when he feels a pair of strong arms wrapping around his middle and warm lips at his ear.

“Hi,” Sebastian says, dragging out the syllables and Santana chokes on her drink. Blaine turns to his side and, as he expected, sees Sebastian’s eyes fully blown and glazing over.

“Hi, did someone get into the brownies?” Blaine and Santana share a knowing smirk as Sebastian nuzzles closer into his neck and hums, “Mmmmm maybe.”

Blaine makes a mental note to thank Nick for making special brownies for the party; if he was hoping to have a boyfriend hanging off his arm to flaunt in front of Kurt, he certainly has it now. Quite frankly, he’s not sure he’s going to be able to get Sebastian off of him.

But he supposes that’s a problem for later.

He and Santana laugh and continue their conversation when they hear “Excuse us” and standing next to them are Kurt and Reynolds.

Showtime.

Except Blaine did not expect Sebastian to be this stoned when they finally met. Part of him is terrified he’s going to spill the whole story, thinking it’s the funniest thing in the world, and then Blaine will be more humiliated than if he had no one at his side at all.

“Well, Kurt, who have we here?” Sebastian’s charming smile is on full display and he’s holding his hand out to shake Reynolds’ hand. Kurt’s boyfriend smiles politely and introduces himself. Sebastian does the same and then returns his hands to snake around Blaine’s waist. Kurt looks slightly confused and asks, “Are you two…?”

Santana sips her drink, amused, and Sebastian continues smiling as he holds Kurt’s gaze. “We are.”

Kurt hums and Blaine can tell he wants to say more but instead just declares, “Hmm good for you.”

_Bingo._

Kurt grabs a drink for himself and Reynolds and the two of them excuse themselves from the kitchen. Santana laughs and pats Blaine on the shoulder as she exits after them. 

“Way to go, boys.” She smirks and then she is gone. Blaine turns around so that he’s facing Sebastian, his arms still around his waist, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

“C’mon, let’s go to the bathroom,” Blaine offers mischievously and Sebastian raises an eyebrow. 

“I just made my ex-boyfriend ridiculously jealous, you seem incredibly handsy, and I’ve always wanted to get off in the bathroom at a party.”

“You are turning out to be the best non-boyfriend ever,” Sebastian grins lazily, but he’s certainly never moved faster. It’s Blaine’s apartment, so of course he knows the layout like the back of his hand, and the closest, most private bathroom is the one attached to Santana’s room. Blaine looks around carefully as he closes the bedroom door. He’s making sure they’re not being followed, but most importantly, he’s making sure Santana doesn’t catch them going into her room. She has a pretty open door policy when it comes to her and Blaine’s living arrangements, but Blaine has also never attempted to get a blowjob from his fuck buddy in her bathroom.

Speaking of, said fuck buddy is not exactly being helpful with their covert operation. He’s currently attached his body to Blaine’s back, his mouth wet and wanting, dragging his lips down the nape of Blaine’s neck. They’ve managed to get across her bedroom and to the bathroom door, where Blaine is yanking and pushing at the handle to no avail.

“I thought we were getting off, but it appears like we’re just getting stuck.”

“Fuck _off_ , Sebastian,” Blaine moans, frustrated. He remembers her ranting a few weeks ago about the bathroom door sticking, and now he wishes more than anything they’d done something to fix it.

“Let’s just do it on the bed, who cares?” Sebastian pants, flipping Blaine around so that his back is resting against the stubborn bathroom door. He slides his hand down Blaine’s torso, stopping at his pants to pop the button open and slide down his zipper.

“As if Santana wouldn’t murder me and put my head on a stake,” Blaine says firmly. He did want to do it against the door, and this isn’t exactly the side he was talking about, but he guesses this could work. He feels his eyes start to fall shut as he slides his hand along the back of Sebastian’s head, which is now at about torso level when suddenly…

The bathroom door finally comes unstuck, sending the two of them scrambling back, Sebastian reaching for Blaine’s hand in an attempt to keep him from falling. However, Sebastian’s angle on his knees doesn’t help much, and Blaine falls _hard_ on the bathroom tile, releasing a litany of curse words Sebastian definitely thought he wouldn’t hear until a few minutes later.

But Sebastian is still pretty high from the brownies, and although he tries not to, he can’t stop from giggling a little at Blaine’s misfortune. Blaine glares and then lays down on his back, feeling a little as though he may cry. The door opening was loud, but thankfully, the party is still going strong, so it doesn’t seem like anyone heard a thing. Blaine turns his head to the side, and sees...the bottom of the toilet.

“Awesome,” he mutters under his breath, throwing an arm over his eyes, “quite possibly the least sexy circumstance I have ever been a part of.”

He hears Sebastian murmur “I can fix that”, but doesn’t remove his arm, still mortified at the amount of things that have gone wrong so far tonight. Being friends with benefits was not supposed to be this hard, but tonight in particular has turned out to be a shocking amount of work.

He feels Sebastian finish his work from earlier, sliding his pants and boxers just far enough down that his cock is clearly exposed and he hisses just slightly as his ass, still sore from the fall, comes back down gently on the cool bathroom floor. The next sensation he feels causes him to arch his back and moan deeply, even with his arm still firmly thrown across his eyes. He can feel Sebastian’s tongue sliding around his length, his hand moving gently up and down at the base. When he finally peeks out from under his arm, he can’t believe he was ever not looking at this.

Sebastian is on his knees in the doorway, practically folded in half as he gives Blaine what will surely be the greatest blowjob of his entire life. Blaine has his palms laid flat on the tile, doing anything he can to ground himself as he feels his soul practically leaving his body. He hardly notices the pain from the fall; all of his senses are focused on Sebastian’s mouth, wrapped around him, and he reaches down to tug lightly on Sebastian’s hair when he knows he’s close.

But Sebastian just flicks up his eyes and smiles and Blaine can’t stand it any longer. He comes quickly, his whole body shaking as Sebastian stays the course, holding steady until Blaine is finished. When Blaine exhales, his body goes almost completely numb and Sebastian pulls off, sitting up on his knees and wiping away a few spare traces with his thumb, licking it off and smirking as Blaine watches.

“Didn’t end up being so bad, did it?”

“We are so busted if she walks in here right now,” Blaine warns, but he’s practically grinning.

“No one gets to see you like that but me.”

Blaine stops, lifting himself up to rest on his elbows. Did Sebastian really just say that?

If it meant more than a throwaway comment, Blaine can’t tell because Sebastian stands up in the next minute, allowing Blaine a little more room to get dressed and stand up too. He rubs his backside a little once fully dressed, frowning.

“Fuck, that’s gonna be such a bruise.”

“Yeah, perhaps we can do it a little more gracefully next time,” Sebastian suggests. Blaine glares teasingly at him in the bathroom mirror and Sebastian reaches over to kiss him one last time, slow and quiet, before pulling away and whispering, “Glad I could give you some relief.”

When they walk out of the bedroom, Blaine’s hair is wild, and it’s clear that the two of them have been up to something. But right now, the only person who would notice just happens to be the one Blaine is kind of glad did.

“I was just looking for the other bathroom,” Kurt explains, glancing between Blaine and Sebastian awkwardly.

Sebastian grins proudly, “Just in there, but be careful. The door sticks.”

He and Blaine barely contain their giggles as confusion registers on Kurt’s face and he mumbles “thanks” quickly.

“Well, that _definitely_ couldn’t have gone any better,” Sebastian tries to say seriously. Blaine mutters through a laugh, “You’re such an idiot” and pushes him into the kitchen to get another drink.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say again how huge of a role Santana plays in this fic, and how much we will all miss Naya. I thank her for bringing so much life to this character, and hope this helps her live on in some small way <3

A month passes by, then two, and finally, winter has come to New York City. When Blaine wakes up, it’s snowing and he instantly has the perfect day planned in his head. He gets up around 9 am, and notices that Santana is still asleep, so he quietly makes his coffee with a little hot chocolate mixed in. It almost feels like Christmas morning: the world is quiet and he can’t wait to spend his day with the people he loves most.

He lasts about 20 minutes in front of the TV, mindlessly skipping through channels, his knee bouncing anxiously as he sips his coffee. And then he caves, and somehow winds up in front of Santana’s bedroom door, another mixture of cocoa and coffee in his hand when suddenly, the door opens.

Santana screams and swears in Spanish for a full minute before she slaps Blaine in the chest.

“Blaine, what the fuck!” She steps back, grabbing at the doorknob, “What are you doing lurking outside my room?”

“Brought you coffee.” He is practically grinning at this point, but Santana is still glaring. She takes the drink nevertheless, and as soon as the first sip hits her lips, Blaine can see her calming down.

She takes a deep breath, “Okay, but seriously, _what_ are you up to?” 

“I want to have a quintessential New York Christmas day. Shopping for presents, drinking cocoa, and ending the day with ice skating at Rockefeller Center.”

“Ugh but so many tourists,” she groans. And yet, with those doe eyes and Blaine bouncing on the balls of his feet like a little kid, she knows he’ll get his way.

“Fine, give me 30 minutes,” she relents, and instantly Blaine’s eyes light up. Before he leaves to give her space, she adds, “Oh, and can Brittany come?”

Blaine smiles slyly, like he knows all of her secrets, “Sure, I know it’s probably not Sebastian’s thing, but I was going to ask him if he wanted to join too.”

“I’m quite sure it’ll be his thing today,” she says with a smirk, closing the door to get dressed. He rolls his eyes and wanders off to the kitchen to put his mug in the dishwasher. He wants to remind her that this thing with Sebastian is just a way to make Kurt jealous, and to blow off some steam when he needs to. But hey, if he’s fooling her, and she _knows_ it’s not real, that must mean they’re doing pretty good with people who don’t know the truth.

When he goes out into the hallway, it is quiet, and he figures most of their friends and neighbors are probably still asleep. He heads down to the Nest and knocks on the door quietly. Sebastian typically gets up early and goes for a run, even in the cold, so Blaine is hoping he’ll be awake and that he won’t bother Jeff or Nick.

The door opens and Blaine has to bite his lip to remember to stay on task. Sebastian has clearly just gotten back from his run; he’s in track pants and an old Dalton T-shirt and he is positively glowing with sweat. Blaine wants to text Santana, ditch the whole Christmas plan and jump Sebastian’s bones, but he stays focused. Just because they’re friends with benefits, it doesn’t mean the benefits always have to be sexual. They can be a nice cup of cocoa and a trip around the ice rink.

Can’t they?

“You’re up early,” Sebastian says with a smile, “everything okay?”

“Mmm mmhmm great,” Blaine responds, trying to get his thoughts in order, “So...um, Santana, Brittany and I are going to have a, uh, Christmas in New York day, and I wanted to come down and invite you. We were going to go shopping, maybe ice skating, I don’t know, just kind of see where the day takes us. You in?”

Sebastian looks like he’s contemplating it for a moment, and then answers, “Shit, I have this paper due that I literally haven’t written a single word for and it has to be done by midnight.”

_Okay_ , Blaine thinks, _this is where the line is_. Sebastian would never put schoolwork in front of doing something fun with his friends, so the fact that Blaine is offering must really be throwing him off. They had an agreement to keep things purely physical, and Blaine is clearly violating that.

He puts on a brave smile, “Sure, no worries. Maybe I can come by later tonight and we can...hang out.”

When Sebastian leans down to kiss him, Blaine knows he shouldn’t enjoy it this much; he clearly hasn’t showered yet after his run. But all he can think is how Sebastian smells so fucking good, and if he wants to keep things physical, Blaine thinks he can manage that.

“I’ll see you later,” Sebastian murmurs, quietly shutting the door and leaving Blaine lingering outside for just a few moments. He practically floats back down to his apartment and when he gets inside, Brittany and Santana are decked out in their most fashionable winter weather gear.

“Where’s Seb?” Santana asks, noticing Blaine’s idiotic smile and flushed cheeks.

“Oh, he’s got a lot of school stuff to do, so he’s not coming.”

“He has got to give me some tips on rejection because he turned you down and you are fucking radiant. I can’t imagine what you look like when he…”

“Okay, are we ready to go?” he interrupts, and both girls laugh, but they head out the door together, ready to conquer the city.  
…

The day is everything Blaine wants it to be. They hit up the holiday markets at Bryant Park and Union Square, stop by City Bakery and split a couple of hot chocolates, and then take the train up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and ice skate on the famous rink.

Blaine won’t say this out loud because he knows the idea of commitment is a practically unspoken topic in Santana’s world, but he likes her and Brittany together. They are always laughing and smiling, and Santana is relaxed and easy with Brittany. Maybe he’ll try to sneak a quick photo of the two of them while they’re all ice skating to prove his point.

When they emerge from the subway, they head to the tree first, and Blaine practically stops dead in his tracks when he sees the figure standing underneath it.

“Right on time, Smythe, nice work,” Santana high fives him as they all walk over and Blaine is stunned.

“You knew about this?”

Santana is just grinning as Sebastian coolly responds, “Finished my paper early, it’s a Christmas miracle.”

“Come on, let’s go get in line!” Santana and Brittany are rushing off to the ice rink with Blaine and Sebastian following behind. But Blaine feels Sebastian tugging lightly on the back of his jacket and he hangs back a little, slightly concerned about the look on Sebastian’s face.

“I don’t say this very often, so truly, cherish this, but I’m sorry.”

Now Blaine is even more confused. What could Sebastian possibly be apologizing for? They just met up with him, and he seems to be agreeable to going ice skating. It has to be clear that Blaine is confused by the look on his face, so Sebastian continues.

“I kind of, um, freaked out when you asked me to come with you this morning because I thought it was a _date_.” He whispers the last word like it’s the world’s most dangerous secret. Blaine stares at him, a nervous smile on his lips.

“But then I realized, that’s kind of the point, right? I mean, Santana knows about our arrangement, but Brittany doesn’t, I assume?” At this, Blaine shakes his head. “So, we can give her a show, some gossip she can take back to the rest of the group. What do you think?”

“Why do you think I asked you to come?” Blaine is trying to flirt to cover up his confusion because truthfully, he doesn’t know why he asked. He just knew what he wanted to do and he knew he wanted Sebastian to be there.

“I really have to stop underestimating you, Anderson.”

Blaine leans up on his tiptoes to kiss Sebastian, and for as cold as it is outside, his lips are warm and soft. For the millionth time, Blaine just wants to call off this whole ice skating thing and go make out in Sebastian’s bed for the rest of the afternoon.

But then he hears, “Hello, the ice is melting, hurry the fuck up!” and he’s laughing against Sebastian’s lips, the moment broken. But he still takes Sebastian’s hand in his, and heads off to the ice rink with Santana and Brittany.

And if Sebastian doesn’t pull away? Well, that’s all part of the show.  
…

The day has been filled with shopping, laughing, and talking. In particular, Blaine has been talking about ice skating on this iconic rink practically all day. Santana has shown no signs that she didn’t want to participate or that she was scared; in fact, she had been the one to rush them into the line so that they didn’t have to wait too long.

But as soon as they hit the ice, Blaine sees a girl he has never seen before.

And that girl is Bambi.

As he and Sebastian glide easily around the ice, arm-in-arm, he glances back and Santana is moving an inch at a time, gripping Brittany’s arm hard enough that it may be cutting off her circulation. When they make their way around to the two girls, the whole group stops and moves over to the side of the rink.

“You all right, Lopez?” Sebastian asks, genuine concern in his voice, and Blaine can’t stop his mind from wandering to a daydream of Sebastian as a husband or even a dad and...whoa. The weather really must have frozen his brain or something.

“Latinas are not meant to be on ice,” she says firmly, and Blaine laughs compassionately.

“Then why did you come? I could’ve just skated on my own for a little bit!”

“You think I’m scared?” she snaps and Blaine gives her a pointed look, his eyes quickly flicking down to her shaking skates.

“Maybe my legs are just frozen.”

Sebastian offers a compromise. “How about this? Why don’t you and I go get something to drink and let Brittany and Blaine keep skating? I mean, if you guys want to, that is.”

“Is that okay, Blaine? I’d really like to do a couple more laps.” Brittany looks like a kid waiting in line for Santa, and Blaine doesn’t want to disappoint her. Plus, he’s been excited all day to come here and skate as well, so he figures it can’t hurt for them to split up for a little while.

“Yeah! Go get her on steady ground,” Blaine agrees and he and Sebastian share a smile as they head off the ice. Blaine watches as Sebastian and Santana take off their skates and head inside, and he turns back to Brittany, extending his arm to her. They skate casually for a while, both together and separately, when Blaine notices Brittany smirking knowingly at him.

“What?” he asks with a laugh.

“You’re just...different than you were in high school, that’s all.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Well, okay, you’re about the same, but relationship-wise? You should be happy with your growth.”

Brittany is always cryptic, and he continues to stare, hoping to prompt her to elaborate. She rolls her eyes, like her meaning should be obvious, and explains.

“Your relationship with Kurt, it was like black and white: classic, a solid first step. But with him?”

She looks above the ice rink to where Sebastian and Santana are standing, laughing and drinking hot chocolate. Sebastian has his arm around Santana and he winks down at Blaine and Brittany as Santana rolls her eyes, but rests her head on her friend’s shoulder. Blaine feels the warmth spreading from his heart through his chest.

“You’re living in technicolor, baby.”

Everyone always underestimates Brittany, Blaine thinks. Sure, she never got the best grades in school, but she is incredibly wise when it comes to reading people.

He wishes he could ask her whether this thing with Sebastian is real or not.

But she thinks it is, so he can’t.  
...

The holidays pass, and Blaine goes home while Sebastian stays in New York. They text here and there and Sebastian’s Christmas gift is a late night Skype call that Blaine frantically makes sure his bedroom door is locked for at least 100 times. But they do enough to keep themselves busy, and when it’s time to go back to school, Blaine finds himself feeling a little sad to leave his mom and hometown behind once again.

But luckily when he gets back, his birthday is just around the corner. Unluckily, he’s an adult now, so he’s just finishing a shift at the local singing diner when Sam texts him.

_Happy birthday dude!! Silver Mule ASAP._

He’s tired from being on his feet all day and he smells like burgers.

_Can I go home and change first?_

A text from Santana comes through almost instantly and it’s a picture of a fruity drink with an umbrella coming out of it.

_THE ICE IS MELTING IN YOUR DRINK GET OVER HERE NOW_

He laughs out loud, which draws more than a few looks from strangers on the sidewalk, but he quickly texts back.

_Okay!! be there in 10_

He takes his nametag and apron off and heads down the steps of the subway. The bar isn’t far and it’s one of his favorites, so he can already feel excitement taking over exhaustion. Before he gets too far down and loses cell service, he is sure to text Sebastian.

_Did Santana let you know to come to the Silver Mule? If not, consider this your invite see you soon :)_

He doesn’t receive a response before he gets to the train, but he assumes it has something to do with his horrifying lack of service. He puts in his headphones as the train pulls in and pumps himself up with some dance songs. This is the life he envisioned for himself when he moved to New York.

And having a gorgeous boy on his arm to share it with? That’s just the icing on the birthday cake.  
…

When he arrives at the bar, Sebastian still hasn’t texted him back, but Blaine assumes that his phone was just in his pocket and that he’ll see him when he walks in. As soon as he gets through the door, he hears a large group of voices all shouting his name. He looks to his right and all of his friends are standing around a big table. Santana runs over to hug him and puts a boa around his neck and a drink in his hand. She winks, “I got you a fresh one, don’t worry.”

He thanks her and smiles, going around the table to hug everyone else. All of their friends from home are there, and a few of his classmates have decided to stop by, but there is one absence that he can’t help but notice. After they’ve all kind of settled in, Blaine finds his way back over to Santana, putting his arm around her waist as he stands to her side. She is talking to Brittany and he doesn’t want to interrupt until she’s finished.

“Hey birthday boy!” she smiles and puts her head on his shoulder briefly. Brittany leans over to kiss both of his cheeks and the three of them stand together.

“Hi, did you put all this together?” He doesn’t want to seem ungrateful, so he wants to be a little conversational before he gets to the question he really wants to ask.

“Pshh it was nothing. Sent out a group text saying we were drinking here at this time, an event is hardly necessary,” Santana responds, but he can tell by the twinkle in her eyes that she is teasing.

“Do you need a refill?” Brittany offers happily, and he accepts; after all, it is his birthday. She saunters off to the bar and he finally feels brave enough to ask. “Did you invite Sebastian?”

“Of course!” She responds quickly, “He might have his phone off or something.”

“Yeah,” he says with a shrug, feeling slightly hurt. He’s not really sure why Sebastian would have his phone off on his birthday, and if they’re supposed to be making everyone believe they’re involved, this isn’t exactly a good look.

Santana can tell the mood has gotten a little somber. “Hey, how about this? We finish these drinks and then we round up the crew and take everybody back to our place. And you can sing as much Queen as you want on the Warblers’ karaoke machine and we’ll just sit and shut up and listen.”

He smiles as Brittany comes back and they clink their glasses together. “Okay deal.”

“What’s the deal?” Brittany asks excitedly, feeling the adrenaline of the drinks and the dancing and Blaine definitely notices her moving back to her place next to Santana.

“Yo!” Santana yells and their whole group (and a couple of random stragglers) take notice. “Finish your drinks and then we’re heading back to ours. I may or may not have purchased a cake and if I like you enough, you’ll get some.”

“You didn’t bake it right?” Nick yells and she gives him the finger, “I said _purchased_ , open your ears, bitch!” They both laugh and everyone steadily finishes their drinks. Once Santana and Blaine are finished, they head out first and most of their friends follow. The bar is pretty close to their apartment so they walk back and Blaine is momentarily distracted from Sebastian’s no-show. Maybe he’ll even sneak out of the apartment while Santana is cutting the cake and see if Sebastian’s in his apartment. Not that he’s too full of himself, but something has to be wrong for Sebastian to have missed any excuse to grab a drink with his friends.

He just hopes that what’s wrong doesn’t have anything to do with him.

When they get to their building, they all pile into the elevator and Santana can tell Blaine is still a little sad, and she is not going to stand for that on his birthday. Especially not when she’s a little tipsy.

“All right everybody, group hug for our birthday boy!” she shouts and all of his friends pile around him and he has to admit that he feels pretty warm in his chest. When the doors open on their floor, they all head out and Santana asks Blaine, “Do you have your keys? I really don’t want to dig around in this purse.”

He pulls them out of his pocket and unlocks the door to their apartment. When he opens the door, the first thing he notices is that there are some lights on, even though neither of them were home. The second thing he notices is that the door closes behind him, and no one follows him in.

He walks a little farther inside and then his breath catches. Against their living room wall are huge balloons spelling out “Happy Birthday Blaine” and there are candles spread throughout the room, bathing it in a calming glow. 

“Forgive me for not making it to the bar?”

Blaine is grinning as Sebastian steps out of the hallway leading toward Santana’s room and he throws his arms around the taller boy’s waist, beaming up at him.

“How did you do all this?”

Sebastian shrugs, “Got Santana to give me her key for while you were working and when it became clear I needed a little more time, I had her shuffle the party to the bar.”

“Fuck, Sebastian, this is…” In the back of his mind, Blaine has to remind himself what the end of that sentence is. 

Not real. Just for show.

But it seems like Sebastian doesn’t want to think about it either; he tilts Blaine’s chin up to kiss him and it’s gentle and slow and Blaine wishes more than anything that there wasn’t a group of people waiting outside.

“Happy birthday.” Sebastian’s voice is silky smooth and _fuckfuckfuck_ why did Blaine think having friends was a good idea?

“Do we _have_ to let everyone in?” Blaine whines, and to his credit, Sebastian does look like he’s contemplating the question.

“I do still have Santana’s key, there would be no way for them to get in if I locked the door.”

As if on cue, the door opens and they both hear “Put your clothes on, we’re comin in!” and the next thing they know, all of their friends are pouring into the apartment, cheering and whistling. He hears Santana exclaim, “Whoa, did I walk into Kylie Jenner’s apartment by accident?” and give Sebastian an elaborate wink. He and Blaine both laugh and Blaine mumbles under his breath, “Okay, she is definitely cut off.”

They turn on a few more lights and sing Happy Birthday and Blaine holds Sebastian’s hand as he blows out the candles. When he opens his eyes, he sees Kurt standing with Rachel and Quinn, smiling politely. Sebastian seems to sense the connection as he leans down next to Blaine and murmurs in his ear, “So, what did you wish for?”

Sebastian flicks his eyes up to face Kurt’s lingering gaze and Blaine looks from his ex to his...well, anyway, and smiles.

“If I tell you, it won’t come true. But maybe I could show you.”

Blaine closes the gap, sliding his hand along the side of Sebastian’s face and pressing their lips together. He feels Sebastian smile into the kiss and wants so badly to keep going, but then he hears, “Hey, don’t slobber all over the cake!” and Sebastian promptly gives Sam the finger, kissing Blaine for a few more seconds before slowly moving apart.

Sebastian ropes Jeff into helping him cut the cake and making sure everyone gets a slice, and Santana slides over next to Blaine, bringing him a fresh drink and smirking mischievously.

“Well if you’re looking to pass off Sebastian as your boyfriend, it’s definitely working.”

“You saw that?”

“You made out over the cake after the whole room sang to you, I’m sure everyone saw it.”

“Okay, no more drinks for you,” he says with a laugh.

“Everyone saw all this too,” she points out, glancing around the room at the balloons. 

“He’s very convincing, isn’t he?”

“Mmm, that he is,” she responds with a knowing smile and Blaine narrows his gaze at her, confused. But before he can ask any questions, Sebastian is in front of them offering up two plates of cake.

“Birthday boy? Party crasher?”

“This is _my_ apartment!” Santana insists, but takes the cake nonetheless. “If one of these balloons pops in the middle of the night, Smythe, it’s going to be your ass.”

They all laugh and Blaine easily slides his arm around Sebastian's back while Santana hums “Mmmhm” and takes their plates into the kitchen. They continue to talk to their friends, both together and separately, but Blaine can’t help his eyes from wandering to wherever Sebastian is standing when they’re not together. And somehow Sebastian is always smiling back.  
…

Blaine feels a slight breeze as his shirt is lifted over his head to join Sebastian’s on the floor. He gasps as their lips reconnect, his arms flying around Sebastian’s neck. They move together, Blaine backing up as Sebastian moves forward with him, until his knees hit the back of his bed, causing him to fall backward.

“I didn’t think they were ever going to fucking leave,” Sebastian breathes out, kneeling on the bed as Blaine lays back against his pillows, desperately reaching out to pull Sebastian toward him. Sebastian settles between his legs, his mouth traveling from Blaine’s chest, up the column of his neck and along his jawline. Blaine feverishly pulls him back to his mouth, allowing his tongue to explore every inch. 

When he finds he can barely breathe, Blaine pulls away for just a moment, breathily admitting, “Just so you know, I am finding this friendship _very_ beneficial.”

He’s already half hard from the anticipation of this very moment all night, finally being alone with Sebastian, but his smile, Sebastian’s hands all over his body, are practically threatening to kill him. 

He had sex with Kurt and he never had any complaints, but he never felt _alive_ the way he does in bed with Sebastian. It's like he can feel the goosebumps rising on every inch of his body as Sebastian works his way back down, his tongue tracing the line from his abs transitioning to soft quick pecks along his waistline as he works Blaine’s pants open with his free hand.

Blaine knows he’s whining, but Sebastian is _so close_ that he can hardly be blamed for pushing his pants and his boxers down as fast as he can. Sebastian smiles against his inner thigh, biting and leaving a punishing bruise that makes Blaine cry out.

“Please just…”

Sebastian’s eyes flick up and he has a truly wicked smile that causes Blaine’s eyes to roll back as Sebastian’s mouth sinks down over his length. He tries his hardest to keep his hips from moving, but it just feels too fucking good.

“Sebastian, I…” he breathes out, and he thinks he’s permanently lost the ability to finish sentences. But luckily, Sebastian can tell exactly what’s on his mind. He reaches up to hold Blaine’s hips steady, his right hand reaching under Blaine’s body, his fingers firmly cupping the flesh of Blaine’s ass. His left hand is on Blaine’s hipbone, making sure his movements are controlled, but achieving exactly the results they should.

He pulls off just quickly enough and rasps out, “Let go for me, Blaine” and the birthday boy does as instructed, coming undone just as Sebastian’s mouth moves back to its former position. He hollows his cheeks and stays there, working Blaine through everything, only moving off when he’s sure he’s finished. Blaine’s chest is heaving and he’s sweaty, but he doesn’t think he’s ever felt this good in his whole life.

Sebastian sits back on his heels for a moment, reaching down to the floor to pick up his shirt and put it back on. Blaine is already half asleep, an already exhausting day fully complete, and the atmosphere is calm and quiet.

As soon as Sebastian stands up, Blaine burrows down further into his blankets, smiling up at him through his heavy lids. Sebastian leans down to kiss him softly, and murmurs once more, “Happy birthday.”

Blaine hums happily, and another sentence is on both of their lips, but they don’t say it. They’re just friends; he can hardly be blamed if he wanted to give Blaine a little extra on his birthday.

But neither of them have to say it: staying the night would be crossing the line. So he takes one last look back at Blaine’s sleeping form, and closes the door behind him.

He walks down the hallway carefully, everything dark except for the small light above the stove. As he gets closer, he can see Santana standing in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water from the filter in the fridge.

He smiles slyly, placing her apartment key on the kitchen island before heading to the door. But as he turns the knob on the apartment door to leave, he turns back at her voice. 

“Night, loverboy,” she says with a smirk.

“Night, Lopez,” he responds with a laugh and shuts the door behind him.  
...

Somehow, Econ continues to ruin his life, even as he sits in class, still daydreaming about his best birthday party ever. All of his friends were there to celebrate him, and of course, the part after his friends left wasn’t so bad either.

“Blaine? Mind if I sit here?”

A voice snaps him out of his daydream and he looks up to see Stephen, another boy in his class, staring at him expectantly. It takes Blaine longer than it should to realize that his backpack is currently sitting in the only open seat left in class.

“Oh my god, so sorry, yeah, sit down.” He reaches and up and moves his things, placing them on the floor next to him. Stephen smiles, “Thanks, man. Hey, it was your birthday this past weekend, right?”

“Uh, yeah, it was,” he says quietly. He feels a little guilty for not inviting more of his friends from class to celebrate with him, but in his defense, he hadn’t really known there was going to be a party. 

“Well, sorry I missed it!” Stephen is being super friendly, and Blaine does usually find himself chatting with him before class starts, mostly about how horrible they are at math. But this feels different, they don’t talk much about meeting up outside of class, so Blaine just smiles politely until Stephen speaks again.

“Maybe I could make it up to you? Like take you out to dinner tonight?”

_Oh._ This is why he’s being so friendly. He wants to ask Blaine on a date. Well, he _did_ just ask Blaine on a date, and time is ticking away before class starts. He has to give him an answer.

Fact #1: He doesn’t have a boyfriend.

Fact #2: Whatever he does have isn’t going to last forever. It’s not meant to.

So there’s really only one answer to Stephen’s question.

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Blaine’s excited and nervous and another feeling he doesn’t quite have a name for. Stephen smiles again and says “Cool”, turning around in his seat as the professor enters the class.

“Cool,” Blaine repeats under his breath, nodding, somewhat astounded at himself for saying yes. It’s definitely a good thing, a step in the right direction.

Isn’t it?  
…

Stephen told Blaine that he would meet him outside of his apartment building around 7 pm, and it’s 6 now; just enough time for him to get changed and ready.

Crap, does he even remember how to get ready for a date?

When he and Kurt were dating, they were in high school so their choices were usually limited to wherever their parents were willing to take them that day, which was generally the movies or Breadstix. There was hardly a dress code at either of those places, and when they traveled for competitions, there were always chaperones around, so it wasn’t like they were ever on romantic getaways.

And then there’s Sebastian. He’s not dating Sebastian, so have they ever actually been on a date? 

They’re at each other’s apartments all the time, but they’re usually watching movies or studying.

Or making out when they should be studying.

Either way, he doesn’t think Sebastian has ever even bought him a slice of pizza when they’re all out for drinks. There is nothing they’ve done together that could be classified as a date.

So, he’s scared shitless. This might be his first actual grown up date.

_Be there in 15 :)_

He looks down at his phone and sees the text from Stephen. Okay, deep breaths. He buttons up his shirt, finishing off with a few spritzes of cologne, and starts to head out the door. As he shuts the door and locks it, he hears a low whistle from down the hall.

“Well well well, where are we going?”

Blaine looks up and sees Sebastian standing at his apartment door, arms crossed and smiling. He stands up a little straighter in response.

“If you must know, I’m going on a date with a boy from my Econ class.”

Sebastian does look a little surprised, but not angry or jealous, “Did you bond over your inability to finish an exam on time?”

“Maybe I would do better on exams if people stopped interrupting my studies to take advantage of my body.”

They don’t speak for a few moments as Sebastian saunters down the hall. When he gets close, he runs his fingers up Blaine’s side, all the way until he gets to his chin, tilting it up so they’re looking into each other’s eyes.

“It’s a much better use of your time, don’t you think?”

Blaine can tell Sebastian is going to lean down to kiss him. And for the first time, he can feel the inevitable expiration date looming over their heads.

So he whispers, “I have a date” and slides past Sebastian toward the elevator. As the doors open and he steps in, he sticks his head back out and winks, “Don’t wait up.”

And is this what Sebastian feels like all the time? This powerful?

It feels _good_.  
…

When he gets downstairs, Stephen is waiting for him in the lobby of his building. Blaine notices that he’s not wearing a tie, but he is wearing a jacket, and he’s a little concerned that he’s underdressed. Luckily, Stephen seems to be prepared for that possibility, as he’s holding a jacket in his hands.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t tell you, but the place we’re going is a little fancy, so I brought you a jacket.”

“Oh I can just run upstairs and grab one,” Blaine offers, but Stephen quickly interrupts, “This one’s really nice.”

Blaine’s not sure if that’s supposed to imply that his clothes aren’t normally nice, but he chalks it up to nerves and takes the jacket from Stephen.

When they walk outside the building, a car is waiting and Blaine is slightly taken aback. Stephen smiles proudly, “Daddy let me have the car for the night.” Blaine doesn’t know very many people who drive in New York, but he thinks it’s kind of cool that Stephen wanted to drive.

Until he opens the back door and Blaine realizes he won’t be driving.

They will be driven.

Blaine slides in beside Stephen who calls the name of the restaurant up to the driver. The man nods without saying anything and the car starts to move. Blaine smiles stiffly, trying to break the awkwardness. A typical night for him is hanging out with his friends, watching movies and playing drinking games. He's definitely not used to being dressed up and chauffeured.

He’s not sure if he likes it, but he’s going to give it a shot. After all, he’s a little rusty, maybe he’s just nervous about dating again.

“So do you use a driver a lot?” Blaine doesn’t want to come off as rude, but he’s definitely curious about how the other half lives.

“Not always, I usually take cabs or Ubers. The car belongs to Daddy, so he has claim over it.” It’s the second time in less than 10 minutes Stephen has referred to his father as “daddy”, and Blaine is sure he _definitely_ doesn’t love that, but they’re already in the car, and again, he’s sure he’s just nervous.

They ride in awkward silence the rest of the way, which feels torturous in New York traffic, but Blaine really doesn’t want to risk Stephen saying “daddy” again and fully losing his appetite. When they finally arrive, the line is stretching out the door, and Blaine hangs back, unsure, as Stephen breezes through the door. Blaine hurries to catch up and asks, “Do you think maybe we should try somewhere else? This place doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get a table until like...Tuesday.”

The first thing he thinks at Stephen’s pitying smile is _Sebastian would’ve laughed at that._ He has to remind himself to get Sebastian out of his head. Tonight is about Stephen, someone who could be a potential boyfriend.

Stephen just shakes his head, walking up to the maitre’d and having a quiet conversation with him while Blaine stands awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting expectantly for something to happen, although he’s not quite sure what. After a few moments, Stephen motions for Blaine and they follow the third man through the restaurant to a table for 2 in the middle of the dining room. Blaine thanks him quietly as they sit down and the man ignores him, almost as if he doesn’t exist, and honestly, that’s a little how he’s feeling with Stephen too.

“Wow, how did you manage to do that?” he asks his date, amazed.

“Called ahead this afternoon,” Stephen responds, browsing the menu, “my family basically has a standing reservation whenever we want it.”

Blaine hums in acknowledgment. He doesn’t particularly want to ask Stephen about the details just to hear him talk more about his family’s wealth. Luckily, the next thing he says is to the waiter, and it’s an order for a bottle of wine. While Stephen is chatting with the waiter, Blaine glances down at the menu and notices that there’s no price next to the bottle Stephen just ordered.

So Blaine is _definitely_ going to have to work some extra shifts at the diner to pay for this date. Thank god he has a credit card for emergencies. Although he never thought he would consider a date an emergency.

When the wine arrives, the waiter pours each of them a glass and sets the bottle down. Before Blaine even has a chance to speak, Stephen is ordering for both of them, and he doesn’t stop talking for at least 2 minutes. As he talks, Blaine totals the amount he’s ordering and internally panics. It sounds amazing, but being able to pay his bills also sounds amazing.

When the waiter nods and finally leaves them alone, Blaine works up the courage to admit, “Listen, I appreciate it, but I don’t think I can afford all this.”

“My birthday treat,” Stephen says with a smile that definitely conveys that Blaine won’t owe him any money for this, but he will expect _something_. As the first course comes, Blaine slowly feels himself losing his appetite. But he talks to Stephen all the time in Econ, they’re friendly enough; he would’ve never expected the night to turn out like this. So he tries again, “So, what kind of performance do you specialize in? I feel like the only class we ever talk about is Econ and how much it sucks.”

He laughs, and Stephen laughs in response, like he feels like that’s what he’s supposed to do, but he looks somewhat confused, “Honestly, I’m just at NYADA to do a couple of prerequisites. Daddy knew someone on the board and there was a bit of a situation during my final year of high school, so the family figured I should just lie low for a year or two and then Harvard or Yale would let it blow over and consider me with no problem.”

At this, Blaine is completely shocked, but he tries to keep his cool as the second course is placed in front of them. He’s heard boys like Stephen talk about “situations” before, and he usually doesn’t like what he hears after.

“What kind of situation?”

“Apparently, I plagiarized a few papers? I’m going to be the head of a Fortune 500 company someday, I hardly think it matters if I borrow a few words from someone that no one’s ever going to hear from.”

Well, Blaine would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little relieved that it wasn’t something much worse, but that doesn’t make Stephen’s sense of entitlement any better. Blaine smiles, tight lipped, and continues to eat. He’s pretty sure Stephen ordered 5 courses, and only the 3rd one is arriving now. He isn’t sure he’s going to make it out of this date alive.

He looks down at his phone to see how much time has passed, and his heart does an involuntary jump as he glances at the background. It’s a picture from his birthday party, just after he blew out the candles on his cake. Sebastian is standing next to him, looking on and smiling. Santana, Sam and a few of their other friends are in the background too, but he loves the way the picture frames the two of them. Rachel had actually taken it and sent it to him privately, adding in the text, “For the record, I think you two are really cute together. But if Kurt asks, I never said that.”

He wonders if he texted Rachel right now and asked her to call and bail him out of this horrific date if she’d actually do it.

He knows there’s one person he could call to bail him out, but Blaine is not going to give him the satisfaction.

Well, if he’s gonna stick this out, he might as well get his money’s worth.

He finishes his second glass of wine and when the waiter comes back and asks if they need anything else, he immediately orders another bottle. He sees Stephen’s eyes light up and he has to stop himself from bursting out in laughter.

Blaine wants to tell him _I’m drinking to get through this date_ , but he just smiles as he pours himself another glass of wine. Another course passes, and Stephen is now talking about the debate team he was part of in high school. Blaine thinks this may have been a plot on _Gossip Girl_ , but he’s stopped talking about money for the time being so he’ll take it.

Finally, they are finishing the last course and Blaine is the perfect amount of drunk where he knows he’s going to be able to be completely honest with his date. They will not be going home together. Blaine will not even be getting back in that towncar.

He thinks he might have to switch classes. Or possibly schools. Maybe even cities.

As much as he knows he will get teased about this until the end of time, all he wants to do is get home and tell Sebastian about this disastrous night. When he looks up from his phone, after noticing that they have been at the restaurant for a horrifying _four hours_ , he sees Stephen paying the bill, and quickly reaches for his wallet, practically stabbing the waiter with his credit card.

Stephen looks shocked. “Blaine, I told you it’s my treat.”

“I don’t want to be expected to reciprocate whatever that means, so please,” Blaine turns to the waiter, making sure the card is firmly in his hand, “split the check in half.”

The waiter is trying to remain professional, but the scandal of this is hard to miss. He nods and quickly shuffles away with the two cards. Stephen fumbles awkwardly for his words, “Blaine, I don’t know what you think this is, but…”

“All night you’ve told me about how rich you are, and how you could pay for everything, but I’m sorry, I’m not bought and paid for. And I won’t be.”

Blaine thinks he should drink more often; is everyone always this truthful after two bottles of wine?

At this statement, Stephen looks pissed off, signing furiously as the waiter returns with their checks.

“So I assume you’ll be taking the train home?” he snaps back, every word dripping with disgust as if the thought of even looking at the subway would cause him to have to burn all of his clothes.

“Happily.”

Blaine stands up from the table, walking briskly out of the restaurant. He wants to get away as soon as possible, but doesn’t want to cause too much of a scene. When he finally gets outside, he feels like he can breathe, and he prays that Stephen at least has the sense to give him a few moments of space.

No such luck.

“Blaine…”

Stephen’s voice sounds softer, and one small part of Blaine’s brain thinks maybe they can salvage this night, and at least be able to face each other in class going forward.

“I need my jacket.”

_Awesome._

Blaine squeezes his eyes shut, wishing the sidewalk would open up and swallow him whole. He removes the jacket and hands it over, and before he knows it, a car has pulled up in front of them, and Stephen is getting inside, not once looking back. As the car drives away, Blaine laughs, drawing more than a few puzzled looks from people walking by, but he can’t help it. He tried to date and it failed so horribly. This has to be some sort of sign, but he hasn’t yet figured out how to read it.

What he has figured out is that he is drunk and his body is buzzing and he wants to go home.

He’s just hoping someone is there waiting for him.  
...

It’s late, Sebastian is sitting in the IKEA furniture they leave on the roof for nights like this, smoking a joint, when he hears the door open behind him. He smiles and speaks without looking, praying that it’s the person he swears he’s not waiting for.

“Pretty late for a first date.”

“You waiting up for me, Dad?” Blaine walks slowly over to the couch, flopping down and reaching over to take a deep drag from the cigarette. He blows the smoke out toward the sky, coughing lightly. At this, Sebastian finally glances over at him and sees Blaine just staring up at the stars, seemingly lost in thought.

“Missed you,” Sebastian murmurs and Blaine hums, sitting up and crossing his legs in front of him.

“Obviously, I did too or I would’ve gone to bed instead of waking your roommates up looking for you.”

Blaine is still pretty drunk and he feels _bold_ , like he can say things he wouldn’t normally say. After tonight, he only wants to do things he _wants_ to do. He takes another hit and holds the smoke inside, leaning forward to move closer. Sebastian smirks and gets the hint, leaning in and opening his lips to receive the smoke. Blaine skillfully rests the joint on an ashtray near the couch while moving his legs to straddle Sebastian’s lap. When their lips part, Blaine stretches back, reaching up and extending his neck like a cat. Sebastian digs his hands into the couch cushions to resist leaning forward to completely devour the skin on Blaine’s neck, to mark him up so no man will ever want to touch him again. But he knows Blaine is teasing; he also knows that Blaine is tipsy and irritable, he tried to go on a date to get Sebastian off his mind and it failed _miserably_.

So Blaine waits, stretching backwards, eyes entranced by the stars, feeling the drugs and the wine he had earlier mixing in his bloodstream, and finally, Sebastian gives in. He leans forward, his lips dragging along the column of Blaine’s throat, moving up to bite cautiously just below his ear.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Blaine hisses, and this confirms it: he never wants to go on another date again.

“Tell me you missed me.” Blaine is practically shivering as he feels Sebastian’s words take shape against his ear.

“I came up here to find you,” he groans, eyes still closed, arms wrapping around Sebastian’s shoulders.

“Mmm that’s not exactly ‘I missed you Sebastian’,” he hums against the column of Blaine’s neck, moving one of his hands to pop the button open on Blaine’s chinos. The second he slides the zipper down, Blaine’s head lolls down and his gaze is deadlocked with Sebastian’s.

“I missed you _so fucking much_ , Sebastian. I was treated like full-on Julia Roberts in _Pretty Woman_ , maxed out my credit card paying for _five courses_ of food I was forced to order and wanted more than anything to just be back here with you doing this. So now that I’ve stroked your ego, are you going to take me downstairs and blow me or are you going to make me jerk off _alone_ to your NYADA audition tape again? Because I am drunk and horny and I _want_ you, but I’ll settle for you on the screen if I have to.”

Sebastian stops and grins, “New York has put quite the mouth on you.” He leans closer, their lips almost touching, but not quite, as he whispers, “And there’s no way you have that tape.”

Blaine smirks, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. “Want me to tell you my favorite part?”

He stands up, extending his hand to Sebastian and pulling him up as well.

“What if Santana’s home?”

“You want me to call her so I can say ‘if you’re home, please get out so Sebastian and I can fuck’?” 

All Blaine can feel is _desire_ , and he knows it’s making him irritable and slightly aggressive but it doesn’t seem to bother Sebastian one bit.

“What I _want_ ,” Sebastian murmurs, running his tongue along the shell of Blaine’s ear, “is to not have to worry about your roommate being home so I can hear every noise you make when my hands are all over you.”

Blaine groans as Sebastian motions toward the door leading back into the building with his head and Blaine follows him like a puppy desperate for approval, his pants resting loosely on his hips. As they get to the elevator, he rests his back against the doors, pulling Sebastian toward him and connecting their lips once more. When the doors open, they stumble inside, and Sebastian’s fingers somehow manage to fumble for the correct button for their floor. Once he’s sure he’s pushed the right one, his hands are back on Blaine, pressing him against the back wall of the elevator and pushing up underneath his fancy date shirt, wishing he could take it off right then and there. But he doesn’t know what kind of perverts are working for security in student apartments, and he doesn’t want to give them too much of a show.

The elevator dings. Almost home free.

The second the doors open, Blaine is practically yanking Sebastian out the door and down the hall. When they get there, Blaine is desperate to find his keys, and Sebastian hasn’t given him an inch to breathe. He is behind Blaine, leaving feather light pecks on his neck, and Blaine is whimpering, but _finally_ , he finds the keys, and his luck continues as they get inside and there is no trace of Santana anywhere.

“Thank fucking God,” he mutters and Sebastian chuckles, the two of them finding their familiar way down the hall to Blaine’s bedroom. Once they get inside, Blaine shuts the door _much_ louder than is necessary, but he can’t bring himself to care. He also doesn’t seem to care about the shirt he’s wearing, judging by the way he’s practically ripping it off, not even registering if the buttons stay on or not. While Blaine was on his date, Sebastian was just relaxing, so he easily removes his T-shirt and kneels comfortably at the side of Blaine’s bed in his black sweatpants. Blaine has moved to a sitting position on the bed, his pants still unbuttoned, so Sebastian reaches up and easily slides them down as Blaine elevates his hips. He can hear Blaine quietly begging “ _please_ ” as he lays back on his elbows and Sebastian takes this as an invitation to not waste anymore time.

He leans forward, kissing the inside of Blaine’s thigh and Blaine groans as Sebastian’s lips move closer and closer to his dick. He’s been ready to go pretty much since he got back from his date, so Sebastian doesn’t hesitate when he removes Blaine’s boxers and suddenly, there is his perfect mouth. Blaine knows he’s probably going to last all of 2 minutes, but he just doesn’t care.

Sebastian’s moves are so fluid, like they’ve done this 100 times before, and okay, it hasn’t been _that_ many times, but it’s been long enough that he knows Blaine loves the feeling of his whole weight resting on Sebastian’s tongue, that his whole body will shiver if Sebastian hums low around his length.

“Ah, I’m not gonna last long, I’ve been thinking about you all night,” he blurts out, and Sebastian practically grins. Well, as best as he can with Blaine’s cock in his mouth.

His eyes flick up as if to let Blaine know that he can let go whenever he’s ready and Blaine nods quickly, head thrown back, eyes shut. Blaine loves that this has become their little system, that one look is all it takes to let him know everything is okay. He breathes heavily, and then, with a quick squeeze to Sebastian’s shoulder, he comes, gasping for breath and trying to keep his hips down. Sebastian just keeps smiling and works him through it. When he’s finished, Blaine is still so turned on that he reaches down to kiss Sebastian, tongue delving inside his mouth to taste everything. He pulls Sebastian up on the bed and they’re laying chest to chest, still kissing as Blaine reaches inside Sebastian’s sweatpants, happily finding him hard and willing.

“You’re not the only one who was thinking all night,” Sebastian murmurs low.

Blaine grins and they kiss again; Blaine feeling like he wants to devour every taste on Sebastian’s tongue. When he starts to get close, Sebastian bites down gently on Blaine’s lower lip to warn him, and Blaine pulls away, leaving quick pecks on Sebastian’s cheeks and jawline, stopping to bite and suck a small mark behind his ear. 

Sebastian whines “ _ah_ , fuck” and then Blaine feels him spilling into his fist, warm and fast and absolutely amazing.

When they’ve had a few minutes to come down from their high, Blaine helps Sebastian clean himself up and starts to head back into bed. He is still naked, watching Sebastian curiously from his position under the covers. He tries not to get his hopes up; if Sebastian wants to pick up his T-shirt and go down the hall to his home, Blaine has no reason to stop him.

But Sebastian just smiles warmly, removing the rest of his clothing and tossing it across the room before climbing into the bed. Blaine tries to tell himself that he doesn’t feel a surge of happiness in his heart, but he’s always had a hard time lying to himself.

Especially about things like this.

“I’m glad your date was awful.”

Maybe he’s not the only one who’s confused.

He looks over to respond to Sebastian’s statement, but his eyes are closed and he looks so fully settled that Blaine wouldn’t dare disturb him.

He whispers into the dark, “Me too” and shuts his eyes.  
...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading, the last part will be up on Saturday!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a fun Seblaine week, hope everyone enjoys the last part!

When Blaine wakes up, the sun is shining into his room and he’s so thankful it’s Saturday. No classes, no work, maybe he and Sebastian can…

Wait.

He sits up, looking around the room for any traces that Sebastian was there the night before. He’s not going to lie and say he’s never had vivid dreams about Sebastian, but last night _definitely_ happened.

Didn’t it?

He’s about 10 seconds away from a full blown panic attack when he hears 2 voices laughing down the hall. One is female so that’s definitely Santana and the other is male.

_Please please please_

He grabs a T-shirt from his drawer and a pair of shorts as quickly as he can and practically flings open the door. He tries to calm down, he doesn’t want to freak out whoever’s with Santana if it’s not…

“Hey, killer.”

Sebastian is standing behind the counter with Santana, both smiling, holding a bottle of champagne next to 3 glasses. Santana is right behind him with a carton of orange juice.

“Your overnight guest was just teaching me how to make mimosas strong enough to strip the paint off a car.”

“Secret Smythe family recipe,” Sebastian says confidently, popping the cork on the bottle.

“Didn’t you have a date last night?” Santana directs her question at Blaine, eyebrow raised.

Blaine glares pointedly, ignoring the question, “So what’s the measurement for alcohol on these mimosas?”

“I believe the technical term is a _shit ton_ ,” Sebastian says as he pours, and Blaine isn’t really sure how they’re going to get any orange juice in the glasses, but it doesn’t matter because he can’t stop staring at Sebastian’s hands around the cool neck of the bottle and...he needs a drink _fast_.

“Cheers to sleepovers,” Santana says mischievously as they clink their glasses together. Blaine swears he’s going to kill her the second they’re alone.

They drink and Sebastian immediately begins refilling their glasses as Santana asks, “Huevos? Chorizo?”

“Sí, sí!” Blaine shouts, and she wags her finger and tuts, “Too white, don’t do that.”

He sticks out his tongue as Sebastian laughs and he can’t help but think _this is a pretty perfect morning._

Santana starts cooking and Sebastian puts some music on his phone and they spend the next hour or so eating and complaining about their professors and upcoming performances. Blaine largely lets the two of them dominate the conversation and just watches them, these two dynamic presences, and just can’t believe how different his life is now.

Sebastian helps wash the dishes and finally drags himself out the door to go home and practice his dance final. Blaine and Santana wave from the couch as he leaves and once the door has closed, her head flops back on the couch and practically stares a hole through him.

“So I don’t really have to say it, do I?” she prods.

“Say what?” Blaine honestly doesn’t know what part of his life she is going to examine, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little terrified.

“You’re... _dating_ ,” she drags the syllables out as if she’s going to have to explain the definition of the word.

Blaine looks surprised. “What? No, I told you, we’re…”

“Oh, I know what you told me,” Santana assures him, “I’m just telling you that’s not what’s happening anymore. I’m not sure that was ever happening, to be quite honest.”

He sits in silence for a few moments and then he throws his head against the back of the couch too, laughing.

“Can I tell you something?” His eyes are closed like he doesn’t want to see her reaction.

“Is it that you and Sebastian are dating? Because I think I already told you that.” When he opens his eyes, Santana is still staring him down with a self-satisfied smirk.

“No, I…” he groans, like he’s about to say something embarrassing, “when we were having breakfast, I was watching you two, and I thought ‘there is my best friend and my _boyfriend_ and I am just so insanely lucky’. I didn’t even mean to think the word, it just...kind of happened”

“Wow,” she drags out the word and really lets it settle in the air before speaking again.

“You really think we’re best friends?”

He slaps her on the arm and they both laugh, her eyes sparkling teasingly.

“You really think he’s my boyfriend?” Blaine asks quietly, like he’s sharing a conspiracy. Like he’s afraid Sebastian might bust in the apartment right now and scream “ABSOLUTELY NOT”.

“I think he would be crazy not to be,” she assures him with a more genuine smile, her head in her hands, still resting on the back of the sofa.

“Okay, you are _definitely_ my best friend.”

“You know it, babe.”  
…

It’s Thursday night and Sebastian has had a particularly stressful week.

He has to finish choreographing a piece for one of his finals and he has other prerequisites that don’t even matter that he needs to do well on so his dad will stay off his dick.

But nevermind that, he needs to find someone to get _on_ his dick. Or at least somewhere close.

The bar is overflowing with gorgeous guys and it’s far enough uptown that his fake ID doesn’t arouse any suspicion that he might be a student. And once he’s in, he usually has enough guys offering to buy him drinks that he doesn’t have to worry about putting in too much facetime with the bartender.

He loved Scandals, but it pales in comparison to the bars and clubs of New York City. He can go out somewhere new every night, meet someone new every night, and he is thriving.

Plus, if there are those nights he doesn’t feel like going out, there’s always an option right down the hall to keep him entertained.

And if that option seems to be taking precedence more often nowadays, well, he can’t help it that Blaine and Santana have a comfortable couch and seemingly endless supply of movies.

He’s just walked up to the corner of the bar, waiting for the bartender to come around when a guy comes up next to him. The first thing Sebastian notices is his dark hair, but also that he’s a little shorter than he normally goes for.

Or maybe he’s just thinking of someone else.

“Can I get you a drink?” the guy asks, looking Sebastian over, starting at his chest and working his gaze upwards, particularly stalling on his lips.

Sebastian smiles, “Gin and tonic.”

The man, who doesn’t look to be much older than him, flags the bartender down and orders 2 gin and tonics. While they’re waiting for their drinks, he introduces himself.

“I’m Blake.”

Sebastian hasn’t been drinking yet tonight, so it has to be that the music is too loud. He couldn’t have possibly heard…

The drinks come but he’s still distracted, “Sebastian. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t really hear your name…”

The guy leans in closer, but he’s still shouting over the music to be heard. “Does it matter?”

The man has a point.

They make some small talk as they finish their drinks and then Sebastian follows (he is absolutely not calling him Blaine) out to the floor where a small group of people have started dancing. The shorter man easily dances back into him and Sebastian grinds against him to the music. He feels the alcohol starting to flow through his body. He’s missed the adrenaline of having an attractive stranger in front of him. Blake reaches back, smoothing over the curve of Sebastian’s ass and thighs, as best he can from the angle. Unsatisfied with the results, he turns around and throws his arms around Sebastian’s neck and kisses him roughly.

For some reason, it doesn’t feel as good as it used to, but he can’t pinpoint why. He slides his tongue into the stranger’s mouth, his hands into the back pocket of his jeans and pulls him as close as he can get. It works for a while; they seem to be in a world of their own, but someone bristles past them and it's like he comes hurtling back to reality. The bump isn’t malicious; the guy quickly says “sorry!” and rushes past and...wait, does Sebastian recognize the voice?

He doesn’t have much time to think about it as he hears “hey” and the guy is looking at him expectantly.

But suddenly, Sebastian feels like there’s somewhere else he needs to be.

“I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go.”

He’s out the door so embarrassingly fast that he has to stop to catch his breath once he gets outside. He has no clue what just happened, but he knows there’s only one person he wants to talk about it with.

_Just ran into your clone at the bar. Coming over to stop you from making anymore._

_Damn it, can’t believe you’re onto me._

_Not yet but like I said, I’m on my way ;)_

He smiles, pleased with himself, and puts his phone away as he heads down into the subway. He loves his wild nights in the city, but sometimes, he just wants to go home.  
…

Santana is blasting Gloria Estefan as she’s getting ready to head out for the night and Blaine is dancing around the kitchen, cooking pasta and going over his lines for a piece he needs to perform for one of his classes. He hears his phone vibrate and looks over to see a text from Sebastian. He’s kind of surprised; Thursdays are usually the nights he hears from Sebastian the least, so he saves most of his homework for Thursday nights.

He laughs at Sebastian’s clone comment and sends off a response as he hears Santana’s heels clacking into the kitchen.

“And what are we giggling about in here?”

He turns his phone to show her their text conversation, including Sebastian’s response that he’s heading over. She leans over and steals a piece of spaghetti out of the pot on the counter, “Ooh are you going to tell him how you feel?”

Blaine can feel himself blushing, and he wants to blame it on the steam from the food, but he knows that’s not the case. He’s about to answer her question when there’s a knock at the door and they both look surprised.

“He teleports too? What _can’t_ your boyfriend do?” Santana teases, heading over to the door. But when she opens it, it is not who either of them is expecting to see.

“Kurt.”

“Hey Santana, is Blaine home?”

“Yeah, come on in,” she responds warily, but she knows she really has no reason to refuse him. Kurt and Blaine are exes but they are still part of the same friend group, so they’re bound to run into each other from time to time. But when Blaine notices Kurt walking in, he looks shocked.

“Hi Blaine. I have something I need to talk to you about.”

They don’t really have private one-on-one conversations anymore, so Blaine is a little bit nervous but he motions to the couch, “Um, sure, have a seat.”

He walks around the small bar area to head toward the living room and Santana mouths _gonna be okay?_ and he nods. She clears her throat and grabs her purse, “Okay, well, I’m gonna head out. I will...see you guys later!”

_Not the smoothest of exits_ , Blaine thinks, but he turns back to Kurt who looks like he’s about to tell Blaine his childhood dog got run over by a car. He sits down on the couch at the opposite end of his ex.

“Kurt, everything all right?”

Kurt sighs, “I have to tell you something, but I’m scared it’s going to sound jealous or like I’m making shit up to stir the pot. And I’m not, if you’re happy with Sebastian, I’m not trying…”

Blaine can feel himself starting to get annoyed. Kurt being dramatic just for drama’s sake certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility, and he wants to get this over with before Sebastian gets there.

“Why don’t you just tell me and I can decide what it sounds like?” he interrupts, and the words instantly fall out of Kurt’s mouth.

“He’s cheating on you.”

Blaine feels his breath hitch. Kurt doesn’t know that he and Sebastian aren’t actually dating. It shouldn’t hurt that Sebastian’s not actually doing anything wrong; after all, Blaine went out on a date just a few days before.

He tries to think without exposing too much, “I...how do you know that?”

Kurt sits up straight as if he’s a lawyer about to explain his case in court. “I was at a bar with a couple of friends and I saw him come in alone. I thought maybe you were joining him later, and before I left, I saw him dancing with someone who literally looked just like you. I even bumped into him because I had to see for myself that it wasn’t you. But I don’t think he noticed it was me.”

Blaine feels like he’s going to cry, but not for the reason Kurt thinks. Kurt scoots closer to Blaine on the couch, carefully placing a hand on his knee, “Please believe me that I’m sorry, I didn’t want to tell you this. I want you to be happy, Blaine.”

This isn’t how this was meant to go at all. Kurt was meant to be jealous of them, to see how happy Blaine was without him. Instead, he’s here pitying his ex, comforting him after seeing his boyfriend cheat on him with his own eyes. Blaine is having trouble breathing, but he manages to clear his throat to choke out, “Can you...can you please just go?”

Thankfully, Kurt simply nods, squeezing Blaine’s knee lightly and heading toward the door. When he leaves, Blaine puts his head in his hands and finally lets everything out, sobbing. 

On the other side of the door, Kurt can hear him, and he wants to go back in to comfort him. He feels like they are two different people from when they were together, but that doesn’t mean he wants Blaine to hurt.

So maybe he doesn’t have the right to go back in and take care of Blaine’s broken heart, but he can attempt to stop it from breaking any further. The person responsible for the break is walking down the hall, and Kurt turns to face him before Sebastian can get to the door.

“Can I help you, Hummel?”

“What are you doing here, Sebastian? Don’t you think you’ve done enough tonight?”

And then it all clicks.

“It was you at the bar. Did you follow me?”

“I know you’re used to being self-absorbed, but I was there with some friends. I just happened to see you and _your_ friend there. Did you choose someone that looked like Blaine on purpose? So no one would catch you?”

“You have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” Sebastian hisses, and he’s so close to spilling everything, but he doesn’t want to do that without Blaine’s knowledge.

“I know he’s in there _devastated_ because of you. But we all always knew he would be. I know how he used to look at you.”

“And I know how he looked at you, Kurt,” Sebastian spits back, “like he wished he could be anywhere else, with anyone else.”

“I don’t want him anymore, Sebastian. But I know I don’t want him to be with you. He deserves so much better.”

And with that, Kurt turns on his heels and heads up the stairs to his apartment’s floor, the door to the stairwell closing behind him with a resounding thud. And then Sebastian is left on his own, staring at Blaine’s apartment door.

His phone buzzes in his hand.

_Don’t think we should hang out tonight. Sorry_

Sebastian closes his eyes, resting his forehead against the apartment door, one palm open and pressed against it. He wants to knock so badly, explain what Kurt saw, but this was part of the agreement, Blaine knew he would be out with other guys.

So then why does he feel like absolute shit?

Blaine wishes he could feel Sebastian’s hand pressed against the door, and that Sebastian could feel his too.

Just a few inches separate them, but they’ve never felt further apart.  
...

The apartment is pitch black when Santana gets home, except for the stove clock displaying 2:30 am brightly into the kitchen. She doesn’t worry about the amount of noise she’s making; she assumes Blaine and Sebastian will be wrapped up in each other (both figuratively and literally) in his room.

She does _not_ expect to practically trip over a body on their kitchen floor and have that body be Blaine.

But there he is, back against the cabinets across from their refrigerator, and she almost kicks over the 3 empty beer bottles sitting next to him. She has been out all night, but the sight almost instantly sobers her up. Something has to be wrong.

“B, what’s going on?”

It’s dark in the apartment, but Santana can see the traces of tears gleaming around his eyes. She picks up the bottles and places them in the sink before groaning, “All right, Mama’s coming down” and awkwardly lowering herself to the floor in her short dress and high heels. She sets her back against the cabinet next to him and tries again.

“What did Sebastian say? Do I need to go over there and kick his ass?”

He laughs, short and harsh, “That would’ve required me to talk to Sebastian. Which I don’t think I ever want to do again.”

“Does this have something to do with Kurt?”

Blaine nods, “Kurt saw Sebastian at a bar, making out with a guy who looked just like me. So he came to tell me he was cheating on me.”

“Yeah, but you know he wasn’t,” she responds, confused, “I understand pretending to be upset in front of Kurt, but you and Sebastian agreed…”

“I know,” he sighs, frustrated, “but how am I supposed to tell him that I’m falling for him on a night when Kurt saw him tangled up with someone else? He clearly doesn’t want to be with me, he just wants to be with someone who looks like me.”

“Blaine, I don’t think that’s fair.”

“He’s not that type of guy. And I was kidding myself thinking he was. He told me himself when this all started, I should have listened.”

“Okay, so you’re a relationship guy, and you know that,” she points out, moving across from him to lean against the refrigerator, “But maybe he could be too, it’s just that no one’s ever asked him to be.”

“That’s kind of rich coming from you,” he snaps, and she glares.

“Don’t be a bitch, you can't pull it off,” she scolds him and then her tone softens as she slides her phone across the floor, “Zebras _can_ change their stripes.”

He looks down and Brittany’s Instagram is beaming up at him with a picture of her and Santana. Brittany is kissing her on the cheek and Santana’s eyes are closed, but she is grinning the brightest smile he has ever seen. The caption reads: “My beautiful girlfriend”.

Blaine is stunned. Brittany and Santana have always been close, and he himself has wanted them to get together on several occasions. But Santana is definitely more on the Sebastian side of the commitment spectrum. Or at least Blaine thought she was.

“You have to give people a chance, Blaine,” she says gently, “You know that you love him. Did you ever think that maybe he loves you too?”

“But tonight...he was with someone else.”

This causes her to roll her eyes. “He was with someone else _who looked like you_ , dumbass. And he was already out, and instead he came to hang out with you at, what, 9 pm? People like me and Sebastian, we don’t always get it right, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to.”

Blaine rests his head back against the cabinet, looking up at the ceiling. Santana pushes herself up off the floor and reaches down to help Blaine up. She pours both of them a glass of water, handing one to him, and sighs, “Just think about it, okay?”

He doesn’t know what to say, so she just rolls her eyes again and kisses him on the cheek.

“I love you. Now, clean up this food before we have fucking bugs everywhere.”

She heads off to her room and Blaine gets rid of the food he was making what feels like a lifetime ago. And then the apartment is quiet, but his head is spinning from the alcohol and his nonstop thoughts, and he realizes what he needs more than anything right now is sleep.  
…

A few days pass, and the less that is said between him and Sebastian, the more Blaine knows he needs to talk to him. He finally works up the courage one afternoon when he has nothing to do, and walks down to Sebastian’s apartment. But when he knocks on the door, it’s Nick who answers.

“Well, this is certainly a surprise,” he says, his arms folded.

“Is Sebastian home?” Blaine asks quietly, almost certain that Sebastian has told Nick and Jeff everything. They’ve been friends for years and they’ve always been on Sebastian’s side; he doesn’t expect things to be any different now.

“He’s at a dance final,” Nick reports, and Blaine thinks that he’s not sure that he’s going to say anymore. He starts to nod and turns like he’s about to leave, and then Nick speaks again.

“It’s in the Kennedy building, Auditorium A. I’d be there in an hour if I were you.”

Blaine is surprised, he’s not sure what to expect. He was hoping to talk to Sebastian first, but they are performers, so maybe this is the best way to sort things out. He remembers the Warblers’ performances in high school, how Sebastian’s voice always stood out, and he knows they can both communicate with their bodies.

Right now, maybe he just needs to listen.

“Thank you,” he says sincerely, and Nick looks apprehensive but he nods.

“Listen, I know neither of you thought what you were doing was anything serious, but you gotta know you were the only ones.”

Blaine sighs, “Yeah, I’m starting to realize that.”

“Well hopefully it’s not too late,” Nick says with a shrug, and then the door is shutting in Blaine’s face.

But he hopes somewhere else, another one is opening.  
…

Sebastian is stretching as his classmates come in through the backstage door. Since he’s performing his final choreographed routine, it’s just going to be him, Patrick and Ben from his class on the stage and 3 NYADA professors judging from the front row. Other students from the class are welcome to attend their classmates’ performances, but most are too busy practicing their own pieces, so he doesn’t expect to feel nervous from anyone’s critical gazes.

“Is that kid in our class?” Patrick hears Ben ask and Sebastian looks up, and the sight almost causes him to trip on the stage.

Blaine is sitting in the last row of the auditorium, which is only about 5 rows back and he waves timidly.

“He’s, uh, here to see me,” Sebastian says quickly, which is about the most honest answer he can give right now.

“Oh, that’s awesome, dude!” Ben says, slapping him on the back. “I told my roommates they could come, but they said they’ve watched me practice so many times they feel like they’ve already seen it.”

He and Patrick share a laugh and Sebastian tries to focus on being in the moment with them, even though Blaine hasn’t taken his eyes off of him. His professor clears his throat as he and his colleagues sit in the front row.

“Mr. Smythe, you ready?”

He nods and takes a deep breath, allowing himself a single glance at Blaine before the performance starts. Blaine looks calm, but his gaze is laser focused, never wavering from Sebastian’s.

Sebastian turns around and the music starts, an instrumental piece that’s more electronic than Blaine would typically expect for a performance selection. He fully recognizes Sebastian in the club, alternating between dancing with the two boys on stage. But this music doesn’t last long, and soon it transitions to a slower piece of music and the boys fade to the background so that Sebastian is dancing on his own.

Before this moment, he would’ve been pretty confident that he was an expert on Sebastian’s body. But he has never seen him move like this. He is alone on the stage, extending his arms as if he’s reaching out for someone who is not reaching back. Then he is stretching and collapsing his body, and Blaine has never seen him look so small.

He wants to run onstage and protect him from whoever has hurt him enough to inspire this dance. 

And then it hits Blaine like a punch in the gut.

_He’s_ the inspiration.

He can barely breathe as the two others join Sebastian onstage once again, dancing slowly, the 3 of them moving around each other so it’s hard to keep track of who goes where. Suddenly, the music swells and stops, and Sebastian falls to his knees and Blaine gasps quietly. After a few agonizing moments of silence, a new quiet piece of music begins, and Sebastian turns to look up at one of the dancers. 

Blaine has never seen heartbreak on his face like this. And he knows that’s not the point of the piece, but he’s jealous. If Sebastian was feeling this way, Blaine should have been the one he looked at like this.

The boy Sebastian is looking at gently places his hand under Sebastian’s chin and their gazes lock, intense but hard to read. Sebastian is still on his knees, the other dancer has left the stage entirely. He has given everything to the other dancer, left himself bare on the stage, and now he is just waiting for the response.

And then the music ends.

The other dancer joins Sebastian and his dance partner on stage and the 3 of them bow together. Blaine knows this was Sebastian’s exam, so the other 2 dancers leave the stage, waving at Sebastian and crossing their fingers at him for good luck. He gives them a small smile and turns back to the panel of professors in front of him.

“Brilliant, Sebastian, a striking piece,” the female professor next to Sebastian’s teacher comments and it’s clear that the other 2 agree. They spend a few more moments chatting with him and then they head out. When they’re gone, it’s just Blaine in the back row and Sebastian on the stage.

“Good to see they sold me out.” Sebastian crosses his arms in response to his roommates revealing his whereabouts, and his expression is still pretty unreadable. Blaine feels more nervous than he ever has as he stands up and walks toward the stage.

“Sebastian, that was…” Blaine doesn’t know how he’s ever going to come up with words eloquent enough to match what he just saw. He walks up the small steps to the stage so that he and Sebastian are on the same level.

“You have no fucking idea how long I’ve been working on this.”

“What if I hadn’t shown up today?”

“Well, my plan was to invite you, and kind of let everything unfold from there,” Sebastian admits, “but then that kind of went to shit when Kurt saw me.”

“I’m sorry I got so upset,” Blaine apologizes, “I know you weren’t doing anything wrong. It was just really shitty timing because I was going to tell you how I felt that night. I thought it was you at the door; instead, it was him.”

“It all felt like a mistake,” Sebastian offers in return, “I was just doing what I thought I should do, what I said I wanted to do, but the second I walked into that bar, fucking everything reminded me of you. The guy Kurt saw me with? His name was Blake, for fuck’s sake.”

Blaine laughs incredulously, and he knows he should feel weird hearing about Sebastian being with someone else, but this feels cathartic.

“It’s been like that for months. You are everywhere to me, Blaine. And I’m just ready to stop fighting it.”

Everything is so precarious in this moment where they’ve started to unravel their secrets, but something inside of Blaine makes him believe that this won’t break them.

So, he goes for it.

“I want to take you on a date. A real, honest to god date and explain everything and just...start over.” The admission spills out of his mouth and he stares at Sebastian, scared shitless waiting for a response.

Luckily, there’s the hint of a smile.

“Well, I don’t think we have to start _completely_ over.” Sebastian acts like he’s thinking aloud, but Blaine feels relieved. “I mean, you usually have to wait til the third date to have sex and...I’m not really interested in waiting that long.”

Blaine grins, and in that moment, he wants to make the first move, wants to show Sebastian that they are worth every step it took to get them here. He steps forward, wrapping his arm around Sebastian’s waist and kissing him so fiercely, so hard that Sebastian needs to grasp onto Blaine’s shoulder for balance. They stand on the stage, wrapped up in each other and Blaine can feel Sebastian relaxing in his arms. Behind them, the doors to the auditorium open and a couple of dancers walk in. They gasp and apologize profusely, and both Blaine and Sebastian can’t help but laugh. Sebastian smiles that dazzling smile that Blaine doesn’t ever think he’ll get enough of.

“So, a date, huh?”

“I know I don’t have the best track record on dates as of late, but I hope you’ll give me a shot.”

“Well, in case you didn’t know, you’re the second dancer in the piece,” Sebastian leans over, whispering theatrically, and Blaine laughs, leaning forward to kiss Sebastian again, just because he can.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before we traumatize anyone else.” Blaine grabs Sebastian’s hand and starts to head to the door. The other boy just scoffs as they walk.

“They should be so lucky to see us together.”  
…

Blaine is sitting on a bench on the High Line, waiting for Sebastian to arrive. They set the date: the following Friday after both were finished with their finals at 6 pm, and Sebastian’s only instruction was for Blaine to meet him here. After Blaine’s last date, he’s a little wary of being at the mercy of the other person he’s going out with, but this is Sebastian. He trusts him.

His phone clock clicks over to 6:03. Is trusting him a mistake?

“3 minutes late and you’re already thinking I’m not boyfriend material.”

Blaine laughs, relieved, and looks up to see Sebastian standing above him, holding two iced coffees from Blaine’s favorite Chelsea Market coffee shop.

“My apologies, but _someone_ has a very specific coffee order. So much so that when I read it off my phone, the barista said, ‘Oh, is this for Blaine?’”

“A regular at a New York coffee shop,” Blaine proclaims proudly, standing up and taking his coffee, “How does it feel to be on the arm of such a cosmopolitan man-about-town?”

“Expensive,” Sebastian teases as they walk and Blaine argues, “Just wait til you see my credit card statement from the last date I went on.”

“Okay, you have to tell me what happened with that. You never really explained since we weren’t talking because of the...misunderstanding, and then we weren’t talking because the misunderstanding was...solved.” Sebastian has a sly grin, and it makes Blaine want to spill all of his dirty secrets, even the awful, downright embarrassing ones.

“Ugh, okay, so he showed up at the apartment and gave me one of his suit jackets to wear because he said I wasn’t dressed well enough. Then he said _Daddy_ gave him the towncar for the evening so his _driver_ took us to the restaurant…”

“Ooh, Daddy, sounds kinky,” Sebastian interrupts, barely able to keep a straight face and Blaine glares as he continues.

“And this restaurant, Sebastian, it was wall to wall filled with people and he just strolls in and talks to the host and we get a table instantly. I could just feel the glares from everyone as we sat down and I felt so uncomfortable. And then he ordered five courses of food and what I assume was wine taken from the Titanic judging by the price.”

“Well I mean, I can relate because I don’t know if you're aware, but this coffee was _eight dollars_ ,” Sebastian responds aghast, his hand to his chest like he’s outraged.

Blaine just rolls his eyes and laughs, “I’ll Venmo you.”

“Oh no, it’s my treat, _Daddy_.” Sebastian barely gets to the end of his sentence before they’re both bursting into laughter. They’ve come to a spot where there are some large steps where people can sit and talk while looking out on the city, and there’s a spot near the top for the two of them. Sebastian sits first, leaning against a short glass wall and railing at the end of the steps. He puts up his knees and Blaine leans over, resting his chin at the top of Sebastian’s knees.

“So, what else can I tell you to thoroughly embarrass myself and make you regret ever considering dating me?”

Sebastian is still leaning back, smiling easy and carefree, “I want to know more about you and Kurt. High school sweethearts that came to the big city at the same time but didn’t end up together? There’s definitely got to be a story there.”

“Literally the world's most boring story.” Blaine looks at Sebastian, hoping that will be enough to dissuade him from wanting to hear it. Instead, he is looking at Blaine like he’s said the most interesting thing in the world. Blaine sighs, still leaning forward, wrapping his arms around Sebastian’s ankles.

“I don’t know, I guess it always felt meant to be. We were two gay kids in Lima, Ohio who were both out, both went to the same school. I guess it just made sense to us and everyone else that we would be together. And don’t get me wrong, I loved him, so much, and he was always good to me. It’s just that after a while, everything just kind of felt like we were checking boxes: first kiss, school dances, losing our virginity. So yeah, ‘meant to be’ was super romantic at first, but by the time we got to Senior year, I kind of felt like I’d lived a whole lifetime with him, and the thought of that stretching into the rest of my life wasn’t comforting, it was terrifying.”

Sebastian’s leaning a little forward now, really soaking in Blaine’s story. “For him too?”

Blaine nods, smiling sadly, “Yeah, most nights that last year he spent at Rachel’s and I spent at Sam’s and I would just sit at competitions, and look at the other boys and wish maybe things could be different. But I didn’t act on anything, I wasn’t ever going to hurt him like that.”

Sebastian’s ears perk up at a particular phrase. “Other boys, huh?”

Blaine rolls his eyes playfully as a small smile graces his lips, “Yeah, you know, Thad, Hunter…”

“ _You._ ”

Sebastian smirks as Blaine shrugs, “It was harmless to look. Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to get close to you with all the competition.”

“I _was_ very popular,” Sebastian admits, teasing, “but for the record, I noticed you too. You were hard to miss.”

_Blaine knows he needs to be backstage with the rest of his team but he can’t help it: the Warblers are magnetic. Besides, there are 2 teams between the Warblers and the New Directions, he has plenty of time to watch._

_He’s sitting in a few of the rows reserved for the groups not currently performing or preparing to perform. When the Warblers are finished with their number, he claps so loud that one of the members of a competing team gives him a look._

_“Aren’t you with the New Directions?”_

_“Yeah, but don’t you think they’re amazing?” Blaine wants to win, but he’s willing to give credit where credit is due. The kid next to him just rolls his eyes and turns back to his teammate and Blaine shrugs. The Warblers leave the stage and walk back up the aisle on the side of the auditorium. Their captain is the last member of the group to walk by, and Blaine awkwardly stops him with a small wave._

_“Hi, Sebastian, right? I just wanted to introduce myself, I’m Blaine Anderson from the New Directions.”_

_Sebastian stops and smirks at him, letting the rest of his group continue on to their seats, “Oh I know who you are, Blaine Anderson, and let me just say it is an honor.”_

_Blaine can feel his cheeks flushing. “You don’t have to say it’s an honor, I’m not like on American Idol or anything.”_

_The Warbler Captain raises an eyebrow. “You think it's still an honor to be on American Idol?”_

_Blaine doesn’t know why he’s so nervous; he’s seen Sebastian around at competitions, but he’s never actually talked to him. Still, he’s not a celebrity, he’s just a talented high school Junior, just like Blaine._

_“I just mean, it’s an honor to share the stage with you. You guys are amazing.”_

_“Thank you. Can’t say the same about everyone in your little ragtag gang of misfits, present company excluded obviously. You guys should consider auditions.”_

_“We...have auditions,” Blaine responds awkwardly, and Sebastian quickly retorts, “Well, then, they should be stricter. Only top talent like you, Anderson.”_

_Blaine has never met anyone so sure of himself as Sebastian Smythe. It should read as arrogant, but all Blaine wants is to stay in this moment and learn more about him._

_“Do you think maybe we could talk every now and then? I get stuck in the McKinley bubble sometimes and it would be...nice to have someone on the outside.”_

_He’s waiting for Sebastian to say “sure”, hand him a note with his phone number on it like in the olden days. What he does not expect is for Sebastian to reach straight into his pocket and grab his phone._

_Blaine feels like he’s holding his breath as Sebastian types away, and only exhales when his phone is back in its proper place._

_“There you are! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”_

_Both he and Sebastian look down the aisle and there stand Rachel and Kurt, looking furious at Blaine for talking to the enemy. Sebastian smiles and leans forward, speaking quietly so only Blaine can hear him._

_“It was nice to meet you, Blaine Anderson. Let me know if you’re ever interested in switching teams.”_

_He winks and walks away, going to join the other Warblers and Blaine has to will himself not to watch Sebastian go._

_When he finally looks at his phone, he sees the text from Sebastian that he sent to himself and feels the butterflies start to flutter in his chest._

_**You should know, I’m not nice.** _

_And suddenly, there is a want in Blaine like he hasn’t felt in a long time. But his boyfriend is waiting expectantly for him to join the rest of his team. So, he types out a quick response, one that is bolder than something he would normally say to someone he just met, and heads backstage._

_**You should know, you're not as scary as you think you are.** _

Blaine leans back on his hands, stretching out and taking a sip of his coffee. He puts the cup back down. “So, tell me about you.”

“What about me?” Sebastian sits up, crossing his legs on the boards where they’re sitting.

“Any boyfriends that followed you to New York and live in the same building as you?” Blaine says with a laugh, like he just realized how ridiculous it is after saying it out loud. “You, Nick and Jeff in an old school throuple?”

“Is there such a thing as an old school throuple?” Sebastian asks genuinely and they both laugh together. But he does answer the question, “Nah, Nick and Jeff are tragically heterosexual, their loss really.”

But Blaine wants more. “Come on, I told you my whole tragic tale. Spill it, Smythe.”

“Here’s my _tragic tale_ , killer,” Sebastian whispers, leaning in so that Blaine has to move closer in order to hear him over the hustle and bustle of the public place they’re in. “I’m no blushing virgin. I’ve had plenty of experience with guys who’ve treated me well, guys who’ve treated me not so well...I mean, let’s just say the world of our home didn’t always feel so small to me. But the truth of all of that is that you are my first actual _boyfriend_ , and I am _terrified_ of fucking it all up. When I told you I wasn’t interested in breaking your heart, I meant it. And I think this is the first time I’ve ever cared about something like that.”

“I think that we have a lot of _varied_ experience we can share with each other,” Blaine offers with a reassuring smile, “and truth be told, I’m pretty terrified of fucking things up too. You’re only my second actual boyfriend, you know. So you’re really not that far behind.”

Sebastian feels lighter, happy even, as he laughs. “Well, why don’t we start with something we _know_ we’re good at?”

Blaine’s eyes alight. “Your place or mine?”  
…

“Best. Date. _Ever._ ”

Blaine gasps as Sebastian backs him against his bedroom door, effectively slamming it shut and locking it, just to make sure they aren’t interrupted under any circumstances. Sebastian had fired off a quick text to his roommates on his and Blaine’s train ride reading _Don’t be home_ , but he didn’t entirely trust them to know what that meant.

Thankfully, it seems like they did, as he and Blaine are able to stumble through the front door without incident, and don’t traumatize anyone as they remove each other’s shirts as quickly as possible.

Sure, it might be traumatic when Nick comes home and sees Blaine’s polo hanging from their table lamp, but that’s a problem for another time.

Blaine clings to Sebastian, one hand sliding up to thread through his hair, the other gripping the tight muscles of his back, as the taller boy bites down _hard_ , sure to leave a mark on the skin of Blaine’s neck right below his ear. Blaine is practically panting as he feels Sebastian smile against his skin, his hands moving lower to unbutton and start to slide down his jeans.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he hisses, pushing Sebastian away just enough so that he can push his pants the rest of the way down and kick them off to the side. Sebastian smirks, pulling Blaine into him once more, kissing him as Blaine takes his turn reaching down to pop the button on Sebastian’s jeans, pressing down hard on his hips, running his hands over the curve of Sebastian’s ass on the way down. He smiles into the kiss and breathes out, “I don’t know why I thought having a boyfriend would be so bad.”

Blaine hums against the skin of Sebastian’s stomach as he kneels, bringing the other boys pants down with him. “Just think, now you can have this whenever you want it.”

“I will be sure to take full advantage of the fact that you just said that,” Sebastian groans, his hands sliding around to tangle in the hair at the back of Blaine’s head. He likes that the curls are growing out, and makes a mental note to tell Blaine so, but not right now. 

He’s got much better things to do with his mouth at the moment.

But it seems like it’s Blaine’s turn first, and he’s more than happy to oblige. He feels Blaine reach up and shimmy his boxers down and he steps to the side, pushing the clothing as far away from him as possible. His desk is so close, and he wants to be steady for Blaine, so he moves them over slightly so that he’s just barely resting on the edge of the desk, Blaine still on his knees in front of him.

Blaine looks up, doe eyed and beautiful, and Sebastian can’t help but lean down to kiss him gently, Blaine’s plush lips enveloping his perfectly. They pull away for just a moment, eyes still closed, breath mixing, and he almost says it.

But then, Blaine beats him to it.

“Please don’t fucking run from this room screaming, but...I’m in love with you, Sebastian.”

Blaine’s eyes are still shut, and this isn’t the most comfortable way to hear it, especially since he’s still bent in half and Blaine would basically be saying it to his dick if he stood back up. So Sebastian kneels too, tilting Blaine’s chin up to face him and murmuring, “Hey.”

Blaine opens one eye cautiously, and Sebastian laughs, “You can’t see me say I love you too if you don’t open your eyes.”

He has definitely been this naked physically in front of plenty of boys before. But emotionally? This is all new territory.

“ _Jesus_ ,” Blaine breathes out, and suddenly they’re kissing again, reaching for each other and touching wherever they can. Sebastian whimpers quietly, which causes Blaine to pull away, and he realizes how uncomfortable Sebastian has to be, on his knees, completely naked. 

And it’s _definitely_ showing.

Blaine stands up, and Sebastian watches every move as he strips off the rest of his clothing and joins Sebastian back on his knees on the floor. All he wants is to explore, and he knows they have all night, and god knows how long beyond that.

He inches forward just a little more and Sebastian dips down to kiss Blaine again, slowly, but then he feels Blaine’s hand slide over his length and his whole body does an involuntary shiver. Blaine smiles into the kiss and Sebastian mutters against his lips, “Shut up. And don’t stop.”

Blaine listens to both instructions. His hand slides effortlessly as his tongue slides into Sebastian’s mouth, and it’s not the most comfortable he’s ever been, both of them on their knees, but it’s new and raw and an experience that’s all them. 

Sebastian drags his mouth away from Blaine’s and into his neck and is panting hard with every stroke. Blaine is holding his body upright with his other arm, but it’s becoming more difficult the more Sebastian lets himself go. Blaine studies Sebastian’s hooded eyes and soaks in his labored breathing. He places a hand on the taller boy’s face stroking gently until Sebastian speaks after what feels like forever.

“Can I fuck you?”

“Oh God, yes.” Blaine nods furiously. Sebastian’s cock is still throbbing, but he has been thinking about being inside Blaine since they got back to the apartment (and maybe even a few times before). He can wait a little longer.

Just hopefully not too much longer.

Sebastian breathes out, finally able to focus, “Lie back.”

Blaine does as he’s told as Sebastian reaches back to his desk drawer and pulls out lube and a condom. He’s always imagined that Sebastian would be dominant in the bedroom, but tonight, Blaine has felt pretty in control for most of the evening. He feels like his heart is about to explode as he smiles upon the realization that Sebastian has been doing all of this to make _him_ comfortable.

“What are you smiling at?” Sebastian asks with a smirk.

Blaine props himself up on his elbows and Sebastian leans forward, holding himself up by placing his hands on either side of Blaine’s torso. Blaine meets him in a slow kiss, the air in the room humid, and he can feel the heat rising between the two of them. He pulls away and whispers, “ _You._ ”

This answer seems to satisfy Sebastian, who crawls back down Blaine’s body until he’s back in a kneeling position. He opens Blaine’s bent legs a little wider, his fingers hovering around his entrance.

“Are you ready?”

Blaine nods, his head lowered back to the floor and his eyes shut. “Just...go slow. I’ve never done this before.”

Sebastian starts to correct him, he _knows_ Blaine has had sex, and then he realizes what he means. He leans down, leaving a kiss on his inner thigh before slipping his first finger inside.

“I promise I’ll take good care of you, Anderson.”

Blaine moans the second Sebastian is inside of him, clawing at the floor in an attempt to stay grounded. When he adds a second digit, Blaine has a sharp intake of breath and Sebastian looks up to make sure everything’s okay. Blaine meets Sebastian’s gaze and nods rapidly, “It’s good, so good, please just keep going.”

Sebastian continues his rhythm, pressing his lips sweetly on the inside of Blaine’s knee. The sight of Blaine writhing on the floor, eyes closed, is driving him crazy, and he tries to slow his heart rate, calm himself down. When he pulls his fingers out and goes to open the condom, Blaine’s eyes barely crack open, watching Sebastian carefully. He is leaking on his own stomach, and as soon as Sebastian snaps the bottle of lube closed, signaling that he has finished prepping himself, Blaine whines.

“ _Please_ , Sebastian.”

And who is he to make his boyfriend wait any longer?

When Sebastian is finally inside, he groans and Blaine gasps, and it’s all the cliché shit about fitting together like puzzle pieces and finding your missing half, and he wants to do this forever. He moves slowly at first, hearing Blaine’s shallow breaths, but he can tell when Blaine’s body gets more comfortable, and he pushes forward with more fervor, which is answered by a moan from Blaine every time he goes a little deeper. Sebastian knows he isn’t going to last long, having had Blaine’s hands on him earlier, so he’s going to make the most of this while he can.

“Harder,” Blaine begs, one hand gripping Sebastian’s arm next to his body, the other beginning to stroke his own cock, bobbing hard against his stomach. The sight of Sebastian above him, pressing passionately into him, his muscles tight, his eyes focused on Blaine’s face is too much.

“ _Sebastian._ ” He cries out and squeezes Sebastian’s arm one last time before he completely lets go, his body releasing all tension. The pressure finally pushes Sebastian over the edge and within moments, he is coming too, unable to take his eyes off of Blaine’s relaxed, sated form below him.

After a moment, Sebastian sits back on his heels, removing and disposing of the condom in a trash can under his desk. He crawls over and lays on his back next to Blaine, and the two of them turn their heads to look at each other. They laugh at the synchronicity of their actions, both wearing the same goofy, relaxed smile.

“Can’t believe we didn’t even make it to the bed,” Blaine chuckles and it’s the most relieved, stress-free thing Sebastian has ever heard.

“Give me 5 minutes, and I can make that happen.”

Blaine laughs again at Sebastian’s suggestion and they lay in silence for a few moments. Finally, Sebastian props himself up on one elbow, turning on his side, and Blaine turns his head once more to look at him curiously.

Sebastian speaks quietly, “So all that stuff you said before, was that true or just heat of the moment?”

“Well, it would be very on brand for someone like me to say ‘I love you’ the first time they have sex with someone,” Blaine’s eyes are sparkling teasingly, “but if we’re being honest, I probably started falling for you the night we made our agreement.”

Sebastian tuts, “Broke the rules before it even began.”

Blaine shrugs his shoulders and smiles, “What about you? Truth or heat of the moment?”

He watches as Sebastian leans over, and his eyes flutter shut as they kiss, softly and without any intention of moving things any further. When he pulls back, Sebastian is smirking, but the sincerity is still there.

“Truth. Definitely truth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so maybe I left you with a little Epilogue too...


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise Epilogue to just wrap things up a bit :) hope you enjoy!

**2 Weeks Later**

The coffeemaker sounds like a goddamn foghorn, and Blaine still hasn’t figured out a way to stop it. 

He hears Santana’s teasing “ _You could come home and make coffee once in a while_ ”, but he knows she’s happy for him. And he’s happy for her too. Since he’s started staying at the Nest most nights and Quinn has already headed back to Lima for the summer, she’s been able to have Brittany stay with her a lot more.

Blaine did go home to get some clean clothes a couple days ago, and before that day, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw boobs that weren’t on TV. 

And now he’s seen his best friend’s and her girlfriend’s. He may never go home again.

“I know I’ve told you this before, but you are _terrible_ at being quiet.”

Blaine hums, pleased, as Sebastian wraps his arms around his middle, his warm lips dragging down the back of Blaine’s neck. His eyes fall closed as Sebastian kisses down his bare shoulders, and he is about to turn around and give in when he hears the noise again.

“Jesus Christ, I’m throwing this fucking thing in the trash.”

Sebastian laughs, leaving one final kiss on Blaine’s shoulder before walking around him to pull two mugs out of the cabinet. Blaine’s brows are still furrowed, annoyed, “I’m just saying, the thing _honks_ , Sebastian.”

“It gets the job done,” Sebastian answers, pouring coffee for the 2 of them and clinking their mugs together, winking before taking a sip, “and so do you.”

Blaine rolls his eyes, but he hopes Sebastian doesn’t notice him blushing over the top of his coffee mug.

“You know we are going to have to talk about this summer at some point, right?”

Sebastian hums, swallowing the coffee in his mouth, and immediately kisses Blaine, once, twice, before shaking his head, “Absolutely not. You’re gonna get back in bed, we’re going to have fantastic sex, and we’re never going to speak about a time where we could possibly be living in two different places.”

Blaine smiles against his lips and gives into the easy movement of Sebastian’s kiss. After Sebastian’s dance had gone over so well with the NYADA panel, his professor had offered to help him get into a summer dance program in New York, and he had easily gotten accepted.

That left Blaine with a choice: his mom had called a few weeks ago, asking if he would want to come home and direct a musical for a children’s theater company in Lima for a friend of a friend. It wasn’t much, but it would be something he could put on his resumé and a fun way to make some money. And at the time, he wasn’t sure if he and Sebastian would ever be anything, so he agreed.

But now? Now they are _everything_. And that means he has to leave everything behind for two and a half months.

“What was that you said about fantastic sex?” Blaine gasps breathlessly, and Sebastian guides him back into the bedroom, coffee long forgotten.

Talking about the summer could wait a little while longer.  
...

“I miss you already, I still don’t understand why you couldn’t come with me this morning.”

“You don’t understand why I couldn’t miss _mandatory_ orientation?” Sebastian teases and he can practically hear Blaine’s pout over the phone. Blaine had left early to make sure he didn’t miss his train out of Grand Central. He had waited until the last possible day to leave, but Sebastian was starting his dance program today, so he wasn’t able to accompany Blaine to the station. Blaine, of course, wasn’t happy about this, but Sebastian had done his best to make it up to him the night before.

3 or 4 times, just to make sure Blaine knew he was really sorry.

So, maybe that was another reason Blaine was so grumpy. They had only gotten a few hours of sleep, but as he’s scanning his ticket and getting on the train, he’s kind of wishing they hadn’t gotten any.

“Hey, listen, I gotta go, we’re about to start, but I love you, and the quality of life in Lima is instantly going to improve the second your train rolls into town.”

Blaine sighs as he settles into his seat, “Thanks. Did I mention I miss you?”

“Maybe once or twice.” Blaine can hear the smile in Sebastian’s voice and it makes his heart feel a little lighter.

“Good luck today, babe. You’re gonna kill it.”

“Bye, Blaine. I’ll call you later.”

When he hangs up, and his ticket has been checked, Blaine leans against the window of the train and tries to fall asleep. It’s the best thing he can do to keep from crying as he moves further and further away from the person who could very well be the love of his life.  
...

_Next destination: Lima, Ohio. We will be arriving in about 15 minutes. Please gather your belongings and we thank you for traveling with Amtrak._

Blaine opens his eyes, blinking and adjusting to the fluorescent train lights around him. He slept for a little when they first left New York, the exhaustion of the previous night finally overtaking him. He likes taking trains when he can, it gives him time to see the country, just listening to music, being creative, napping. Sebastian’s texts have been sparse and he tries not to be too upset. It’s his first day of a new program, he’s probably learning the ropes, making new friends, rehearsing, and Blaine doesn’t want to get in the way of that.

But that doesn’t make him miss his boyfriend any less.

He sent most of his things home a few weeks prior to leaving New York for the summer so he grabs the couple of bags he has with him and waits for most of the other passengers that are getting off in Lima to leave first. He exits the train, walking up the ramp with the rest of the passengers and looking at his phone to see if he has a text from his Mom saying that she’s here. He told her when the train was set to arrive, and didn’t hear back from her so he’s a little concerned about being forgotten by both his mother and his boyfriend when he hears it.

“Hey stranger, can I take you home?”

Blaine feels like he’s going to throw up. It can’t be.

When he turns around, Sebastian is standing there, hands in his front pockets, smirking. Blaine drops his bags on the ground, stunned. He can’t help the way his jaw drops, this cannot be happening. He must still be on the train asleep, and this must be the best dream ever.

“What are you doing here, Sebastian?”

“This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt like I had something that I didn’t want to miss out on,” he answers, wrapping his arms around Blaine’s shoulders, “I’ll audition for some other programs in the fall. Right now, I just want to be here. With you.”

He leans down to kiss Blaine softly, like it’s the first time and he wants to get it right. When Sebastian pulls away, he is smiling, bright and beautiful, and Blaine doesn’t think he has ever been this happy.

“You and I, we’re gonna be stars, baby,” Sebastian murmurs, nuzzling Blaine’s hairline with his nose, his soft lips outlining Blaine’s ear, “but for now, you think you could just take me home?”

“Okay, Jesus, God, yes,” Blaine feels like all of his words are rushing out at once, and he doesn’t know if any of them are making sense. He wants to kiss Sebastian again, and his lips are so close he can feel the other boy’s breath on his when he stops and pulls back. Sebastian raises an eyebrow, confused, as Blaine asks, “Did you call my mom?”

“Oh that? Yeah, I’m great with moms. I called her while you were on your Old West style transport instead of taking a 2 hour flight like a normal human being,” Sebastian explains and Blaine laughs. He hugs the taller boy, a good solid hug, burying his face into Sebastian’s shoulder, inhaling his scent. He didn’t appreciate this enough before he left New York. He makes a promise to himself to never do that again.

“I’m _so_ glad you’re here,” he whispers into Sebastian’s skin.

Sebastian smiles, reaching down to grab one of Blaine’s bags while Blaine grabs the other. He holds Blaine’s hand as they walk toward the parking lot. “Come on, Pam is waiting with dinner.”

“Please don’t call my mom Pam.”

“ _Our_ mom,” Sebastian corrects smoothly as they get to the car.

Blaine’s car. The one he left at home.

Suddenly, everything Sebastian had to do to get to this moment just flashes through Blaine’s mind. At some point, Sebastian had to have talked to his mom for the first time and explained everything. He had to have gotten on a plane, somehow gotten to Blaine’s house, picked up his car, and came here.

All while Blaine was worried he might be forgotten.

“Oh my god, you didn’t go into my bedroom, did you?”

“No…” Sebastian tries to hide the smile breaking out on his face as he lowers himself into the passenger seat. Blaine shouts “Sebastian!” as he hurries into the driver's seat. He loves his life in New York and is honestly counting the days until they can go back. But it’s nice to be home in his own car going to see his mom. And to have Sebastian in the seat next to him makes everything feel like it has fallen into place.

“Welcome home, killer,” Sebastian murmurs, leaning over the console to kiss Blaine, and he can feel the relief in the way his body relaxes, as he places his hand on Blaine’s knee. Their lips move together quietly for just a few moments before they break apart, and Blaine is practically grinning.

This domesticity is exactly what broke him and Kurt. It felt like an ending, an idea that life would never be anything more than the things they had already done.

But with Sebastian, everything stretches out ahead, and Blaine can’t wait to see what’s coming next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr at mollywritesseblaine, happy Seblaine week! xx


End file.
